


Someone's Watching Over You

by Gates_Keeper



Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Characters Watch Julie and the Phantoms, F/M, Jealous Luke Patterson (Julie and The Phantoms), M/M, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-21
Updated: 2021-02-07
Packaged: 2021-03-10 21:47:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 45,667
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28224138
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gates_Keeper/pseuds/Gates_Keeper
Summary: In 1995, the boys eat tainted hot dogs and get sent to a weird, dark room.In 2020, Julie flees the Orpheum, asking her mother for a sign that everything's going to be okay—and suddenly she's taken there too.Apparently, they're going to watch nine episodes about the boys' future—and Julie's past.AKAThe characters of 'Julie and the Phantoms' watch the show.
Relationships: Alex Mercer/Willie (Julie and The Phantoms), Julie Molina/Luke Patterson
Comments: 420
Kudos: 492





	1. The Void

_Hollywood, 1995_

“Eat up, boys,” Luke instructs, holding his hot dog in the air, a wide grin splitting his face. “‘Cause after tonight, _everything_ changes.” Alex and Reggie, used to the familiar ritual, tap their food alongside his before they all take over-sized bites.

20 minutes later, an ambulance screeches through the streets.

/////

_Hollywood, 2020_

Julie bursts out into the alley beside the Orpheum, tears already gathering in her eyes. She looks up, wishing she could see the stars, but there’s too much light pollution, like always.

“I don’t know if you can hear me, Mom, but—” She presses her hand to her stomach, each breath too sharp and shallow. “I can’t handle it.

“Flynn says you’re supposed to be behind everything, but—I don’t know. If I was supposed to help the guys…” Her voice cracks. “I didn’t. They’re gone.”

It wasn’t fair. She knew they were going to be leaving her after tonight, and she’d prepared for that as much as she could. But she was supposed to have three minutes and thirty seconds more time with them on stage. Standing back-to-back with Reggie… watching Alex play and sing his heart out… smiling into Luke’s eyes. Three more minutes and thirty seconds, that was it—and yet, those had been taken from her too.

“They were my friends, my band…. My family.”

More tears stream down her face. “Why…?” she asks the empty sky, “Can’t you just come pick me up… and—and hold me in your arms, and tell me that everything’s going to be OK…. That I’m gonna get through it?”

Because, right now, it seems impossible to go on with all these pieces of her heart scattered who knows where. Worse is the thought that those pieces might not exist at all anymore. “Tell me that… even though they’re not here with me, they’re still up there with you,” she begs.

And yet, as she looks up, no answer seems forthcoming.

If anything, the blackness appears darker than ever—creeping past the limits of the sky, growing in her peripheral vision.

There had been a dumpster behind her before, hadn’t there? But it’s gone now. Even the brick walls of the alley are slipping away into shadows….

“Mom!” Julie screams, voice shooting into its upper register. “Mom! What’s happening?”

/////

_A Place Outside of Space and Time_

Julie doesn’t recognize where she wound up, but she knows where she is, regardless.

 _“After we floated out of the ambulance, all we did was go to that weird, dark room where Alex cried,”_ Reggie had tried to explain before she’d even known all their names. Back when they used to scare her. The idea seems laughable now.

This place, though, _does_ scare her. Every step she takes vibrates irritatingly inside her body, like the times when the doctor had hit her knee with a hammer. It’s dark and cold, and the air vaguely tastes like metal. Did she somehow die in that alley? Is she going to spend 25 years in this silence and nothingness?

Only, there isn’t complete silence. In the distance, at the far edges of her ability to hear, comes the sound of soft sobs. Someone else is here—and hurting.

Her feet carry her there automatically, eyes looking for the slightest sign of color in the blackness.

_Pink._

Just a coincidence, she thinks, but her feet speed up faster—catching sight now of something red, something blue—

She runs.

“Alex! Reggie! Luke!!!”

As one, the blurs in front of her turn—and _It’s them, it’s them. Oh, thank God,_ she screams inside her mind. For a second, she doesn’t remember that they’re ghosts—that she’ll fall right through them. Instead, she launches herself at Luke—sobbing into his neck as his arms wrap automatically around her. “You’re here. I thought—I thought I lost you,” Julie insists, shaking.

“Uh….” Luke says, and that’s when she realizes.

“How can I touch you?” she asks, pulling back in wonderment. Not only that, but he’s warm under her fingers—the curl of his hair soft.

“I guess I was right. I _did_ die. I don’t even remember how….” she murmurs. And yet, almost more concerning to her is the way that Luke is looking back at her—not sad or happy or like he’s a little bit in love with her. No, he’s staring at her like she’s a bomb he’s afraid is about to go off.

“Um, clearly you know us,” he says, gesturing with his chin to Alex and Reggie. “But, uh, who are you?”

/////

It’s amazing how many times your whole world can come crashing down in the span of a single night. “You don’t…” She tries to make her voice strong. “You don’t remember me?” She turns to her other friends. “None of you?”

They exchange a glance over her head. “Sorry, no,” Alex responds, taking the role of spokesperson for the group, even if his eyes still look red-rimmed. “Admittedly, we’re kind of disoriented right now. Do you… happen to know where we are, or what we’re supposed to be doing here, or—anything?”

“I mean, you guys are the ones who have been here before, not me,” she points out.

“Uh… No, we haven’t,” Luke pipes up.

“Yeah, we’ve only been here about a half an hour,” Reggie inserts. “And most of that’s been spent watching Alex cry.”

“I mean, I think we’ve all been kinda upset.”

Julie stills at the familiar words and takes in their outfits again. She recognizes their clothes—but it’s not what they were wearing when she left them at the studio earlier today. In fact, it’s the outfits they appeared in when—

A harsh sound bubbles up her throat. She doesn’t know if it’s a laugh or more crying. (Judging by Luke’s terrified expression, she would guess it’s crying.)

“I think,” she says through a hiccup. “That not only did I die, I somehow time-travelled back to before you guys showed up at my studio as ghosts.”

A beat of silence passes while she waits for them to tell her she’s crazy.

“Cool!” Reggie decides instead, lit up in a big smile—at least until Alex hits him in the stomach.

“There is no such thing as time travel,” he emphasizes before flashing her an apologetic grimace.

“You sure?” Reggie asks. “Because I used to think there was no such things as ghosts.”

Luke pushes in front of both of his friends. “OK, so you know our names, but anyone can pick that up from our demo. If you really are our friend, prove it.”

It’s a strange reversal of their actual first meeting— _or is this technically the first?_ —when Luke was trying to be all polite and ingratiating and she was the one with her walls up. She can hardly blame him, though. Instead, she racks her mind for something that will convince them.

 _“And rise, through the night, you and I… We will fight to shine together…”_ she sings, an unconscious smile taking over her face at the memory. _“Bright forever!”_

It’s a really ironic song, frankly, considering the darkness all around them—but the Void has surprisingly good acoustics. Meanwhile, Luke’s body has gone super still, listening to her voice ring out. She’s not sure if it’s a good shocked or a bad shocked.

“So, in conclusion, we’re dead, and you have the voice of an angel,” Alex mutters, shaking his head. However, the corners of his mouth are quirking up, which hopefully means that he believes her.

“This is why you’re my favorite,” she can’t help but tease him—only to be met by twin, “Heys!” from Luke and Reggie.

“Right back at you… uh, what’s your name?” Alex asks.

“Julie.”

“Julie. Nice to meet you. Or re-meet you, I guess. Even if thinking about time travel is giving me an epic headache. I’m a _ghost._ How is that even _possible?_ ”

“I would love to answer you, but I don’t know. We were still far from figuring out all your ghost stuff when—” she gestures around, vaguely.

“OK. But if we meet you in the future, that means there’s a way out of here. What was it?” he questions, eagerly—only Julie’s not paying attention.

“Guys,” she mentions, hesitantly, pointing over their shoulders. “Is that…?”

She rubs her eyes, but when she opens them again, there’s still a large-screen TV set up where there had been only nothingness before. And a couch. Even a coffee table.

“Uh…” Reggie draws out, clearly seeing it, too.

They all look at each other—before slowly starting to approach the furniture as if it will blink away or the couch pillows will start attacking them or something. However, it all remains very normal—or as normal as a living room in the middle of the Great Beyond can possibly be.

There’s even a remote. Reggie reaches for it, instantly.

“Welcome, Julie and the Phantoms!”

Gold words appear on the TV screen, causing at least half of them to jump.

The message then continues to scroll, almost like the beginning of Star Wars.

“The area you are currently in exists outside space and time. Because of this, you four are able to see glimpses of your future—or your past. Maybe even get the opportunity to change them if you so desire.”

The screen stops, wipes clean. “Press play to begin.”

“I don’t know about this, guys,” Alex murmurs, looking completely overwhelmed.

“What are you talking about, Dude? You said you wanted answers. This is offering them to us,” Luke reminds him, grabbing the remote from Reggie.

“And what could it hurt to check it out?” Reggie asks. “We’re already dead.”

Three sets of eyes swivel towards Julie—and is it lame how much her heart clenches, seeing them include her so easily? She tells herself to focus. “I would prefer to find out what’s going on. Especially if the alternative is wandering around aimlessly for years.”

Alex nods his head, resignedly.

“Come on,” Luke prompts, nudging his friend’s shoulder. “We’re not going to do this unless you’re actually on-board.”

The drummer takes a deep breath. “Yeah, let’s do it,” he says at last. “After all, it’s not like today can get any weirder.”

And with that, the four of them arrange themselves on the couch—a little more space between Julie and Reggie than the rest of the guys.

“Everyone’s sure they’re ready?” Luke questions one more time. He gets a scattering of “yes’s.”

“Then let’s go.”


	2. Now or Never

Julie feels outrageously nervous as Luke presses the button to begin. It only gets worse when the screen reads, “Hollywood 1995” before panning to a shot of the Orpheum sign, buzzing with neon. “Sunset Curve Showcase – Sold Out,” it says in movie theater-style letters.

“ _Please_ don’t tell me this is going to involve actually watching you die,” she begs.

**The sound of an electric guitar cuts through—a high-energy beat.**

“Don’t know. But it seems like you’re going to hear us rock our rehearsal first,” Luke mentions, the lines around his mouth tight. The reminder of how close he came to living his dream is probably hitting hard.

**Then, there’s suddenly Alex—crossed drumsticks in front of his face, counting off, “One, two.”**

**“Take off, last stop.  
Countdown ‘til we blast open the top.  
Face first, full charge  
Electric hammer to the heart.”**

They’re amazing.

Julie knew that already, of course, but she realizes that she never actually got to see them like this. To see _Sunset Curve_ in all its glory. Impossibly, Luke seems to have even more energy than usual, unable to stop moving for even a second—left leg especially restless as it kicks the air.

**“Clocks—move—faster,  
‘Cause it’s all we’re after no-ow!**

**Oh-o-oh!”**

**Reggie comes over to share Luke’s mike, and as they jump together, the most blinding smile crosses Luke’s face.**

****

It makes Julie ache a little to see it. Which hardly makes sense. Luke smiles all the time. But it had been tinged with sadness these last couple of days.

And the Luke sitting beside her now… Well, not only does he not really know who she is, but he’s watching the screen with more concentration than joy—taking the opportunity to study his performance or stuck on what could have been, she’s not sure.

**“Won’t stop climbing  
‘Cause this is our time, yeah.”**

**Luke pushes Reggie away playfully, voice growling into the next line.**

**“When all the days felt black and white  
Those were the best shades of my li-i-fe.”**

**“Don’t—look—down,” all four voices chorus, Bobby kicking off of Alex’s raised platform.**

To be honest, Julie had almost forgotten he was there.

**“Cause we’re still rising!” Luke sings.**

**“Up—right—now.”**

**“And even if we—hit—the—ground!  
We’re still flyin’  
Dreaming like we’ll live forever  
But livin’ like it’s now or never.”**

“Let me just say that this song now has way too much foreshadowing for my taste,” Alex comments, even as the screen zooms back on him again.

**“We ain’t searching for tomorrow.”**

**“To—morrow!” Reggie echoes.**

**“‘Cause we got all we need today.”**

**“To—day!”**

**“Living on a feeling that’s been running through our veins…”**

**“We’re the revolution that’s been singing in the rain,” Reggie finishes the verse with a hair flip.**

****

It’s been a long time since Julie’s actively thought about how cute Alex and Reggie are—from an objective standpoint—but it’s hard not to notice at the moment.

“Luke and I need to write you guys more solos,” she says under her breath—or it would have been if the TV hadn’t chosen to pause this time at the sound of her voice.

“Huh?” Luke asks, leaning forward slightly to get a better look at her.

“Where I’m from—” _When I’m from?—“_ We have a new band that you and I write the songs for. And _somebody_ ,” she gives a pointed look at Alex, “always shies away from doing any leading vocals. Even though he’s _amazing_.”

She turns to Reggie, “You both are.”

“Wait, wait, wait,” Luke interrupts. “We have a new _band_?”

“Yes,” Julie answers, and hopes it’s still true—that whatever they’re here for, it will stop the boys from vanishing. She looks away—out into the endless blackness beyond their cozy little circle. “Actually, we were about to play the Orpheum ourselves before—” But her throat swells closed before she can finish.

Taking a deep breath, she pushes back the encroaching tears so that she can turn to Luke with a smile.

“You’re kidding,” Luke’s voice shudders. Then, when he realizes she’s being serious—“Are you frickin’ _kidding?_ Does that make us lucky or cursed? What the hell?!”

“Hold on,” Alex says, talking with his hands like always. “You said we were _ghosts._ How are we performing anywhere?”

“That’s a _long_ story,” she emphasizes, a part of her still incapable of comprehending all the twists and turns of the last few weeks. “But the Spark Notes version? You show up in my garage 25 years in your future. I’m the only one who can see you—unless we’re all performing together. Then, _everyone_ can see you.”

“Cool!” Reggie comments.

“Stop saying ‘Cool!’,” Alex half-shouts, voice going up half an octave. “That shouldn’t _work_. Tell me, anybody, how that makes _sense._ ”

“Who cares about if it makes sense. You’re telling us we’re _dead_ —and we still get to play _music._ That’s—that’s awesome!” Luke insists, smiling in real-time now.

Alex grips his head. “It can’t be normal that I’m the only one freaked out about this.”

Julie hesitates, but only for a moment, before she walks over to the boys’ end of the couch and sinks onto her knees in front of the blonde. She wants to grab his hands but remembers she can’t—only to remember she actually _can_. “Hey. I understand this is a lot to take in right now,” she speaks to both of them. “But there _are_ rules, I’m sure of it—we just don’t know what they all are yet. And this—” she waves in the direction of the screen “should help fill in some of the blanks.”

“That would be nice,” he sighs.

“And at least we’re going to be dealing with—whatever—together,” Reggie offers from two seats down, puppy eyes in full effect.

“You’re right, you’re right,” Alex responds, sounding like he’s trying to convince himself. “Gotta take it—one step at a time, I guess. Let’s just—roll the tape. Maybe, there will be answers.”

Instantly, the song picks up back where it left off.

**“Don’t—look—down,” the group chants more than sings, clapping their hands over their heads.**

**“Cause we’re still rising!”**

**“Up—right—now.” Luke flips his guitar over his shoulder by the strap—**

****

And Julie’s _not_ going to think about why that makes her cheeks flush hot. Nope.

**“And even if we hit—the—ground.  
We’re still flying.”**

Another close-up shot off Luke’s arm muscles, of course.

**“Dreaming like we’ll live forever  
But livin’ like it’s now or never,” they all sing flush-faced into their mikes.**

“Wow, you guys are really sweating,” Julie observes—only to immediately cringe when she realizes that was out loud. It wasn’t a _bad_ look on them, by any means.

“Uh, yeah. Hot lights, lots of movement, what did you expect?” Luke points out.

“Oooh, but I bet we don’t sweat when we’re ghosts, right?” Reggie speaks up. “That’s a perk at least. Leather _chafes_ when you get sweaty.”

“Or, you know, you could just not wear it on stage.”

“Nope. Ladies love a man in a leather jacket. Right, Julie?” Reggie turns to her, hopefully.

“Yep. Absolutely.”

“See!” Reggie cheers.

**Meanwhile, the band thrums through the final chords, Luke lifting his arms to the crowd.**

**A crowd that doesn’t actually exist—because the only people there are those working the bar. And yet…**

**“Woo! Yeah!” a woman’s voice calls out, cheering.**

And instantly, Julie’s blood freezes in her veins.

She’s still on the floor, her back to the guys, so she blindly reaches behind her to smack whoever’s legs get in her way.

“Ow! What was that for?” Luke yelps.

With the next hit, she gets Alex. Then Reggie.

“I _asked_ you guys if you knew my mom. And you. Said. _No._ ”

“Are you _serious?_ Rose is your _mom?_ ” Reggie flounders. He leans toward Luke, “In that case, this is going to get awkward real fast.”

**“Thank you. We’re _Sunset Curve,_ ” Reggie says with a wink, as if it wasn’t written in huge letters on the backdrop already.**

**“Too bad we wasted that on the sound check. That’s the tightest we’ve ever played,” Bobby mentions, fist-bumping with Luke.**

Julie opens her mouth to ask a question but decides against it.

**“Wait until tonight, Man. When this place gets _packed_ with record execs.”**

**“Alex, you were _smokin’_ ,” Reggie compliments the drummer. **

**“Ah, no, I was just warming up. You guys were the ones on fire,” Alex swivels to face the whole group.**

Julie smacks Alex’s leg again. “Stop being humble.”

**“Could you just own your awesomeness for once?” the Reggie on-screen also argues.**

**“Alright,” Alex admits, still somewhat embarrassed. “I was killing it,” he agrees with a smile just as Luke comes up behind him and kneads his fingers into his shoulders.**

_Her boys,_ Julie thinks fondly, watching them all boost each other up like always.

**“So, I’m thinking we fuel up before the show,” Luke tells his friends.**

“Abort, abort!” Reggie shouts at the screen. “Don’t say it.”

Both Alex and Luke are grimacing, as if they are barely restraining themselves from yelling at their past counterparts, too.

**“I was thinking… street dogs?” Luke finishes.**

**“Yes!” Alex and Reggie chorus, far too enthusiastically.**

“Remind me to never listen to you again,” Alex pleads, looking a little green. Luke and Reggie are already unconsciously rubbing their stomachs.

Julie’s so busy watching them in concern that she misses the next few seconds of what’s playing on the TV.

**“Hey Bobby. Where you going?” Luke shouts after their rhythm guitarist.**

**“I’m good,” the future-Trevor Wilson responds briskly, heading straight for—her mom.**

This better not be going where she thinks it’s going.

**“Vegetarian,” Bobby explains as the rest of his bandmates join him by the bar. “I could never hurt an animal.”**

**Rose mostly ignores him, looking in Reggie's and Alex’s direction instead. “You guys are _really_ good,” she tells them, her familiar accent curling the ends of her words.**

****

She is so… _beautiful._ Julie brings her knees up to her chest, hugging them to her.

**“Thank you,” Luke responds, almost bashfully.**

**“I see a lot of bands. Been in a couple myself. I was _really_ feeling it.”**

**Luke grips Bobby’s shoulder. “That’s what we do this for.” He pushes Bobby behind him, “I’m Luke, by the way.”**

_That was definitely flirting,_ Julie grumbles, glaring at the Luke on the screen. Somehow, the Luke behind her seems to sense it—body going tense like a guitar string pulled taut.

**“I’m Reggie.”**

**“Alex.”**

**“Bobby,” Bobby shoves in front of Luke again.**

**“Nice meeting you guys,” her mother says politely. “I’m Rose.”**

****

“Did you just seriously Wet Willie Bobby in front of my mom?” Julie asks Luke, annoyance clear in her voice.

“Uh, maybe?”

**“So, here’s our demo,” Reggie continues in his usual ‘picking-up-girls’ voice. “And a T-shirt—size beautiful.”**

That at least explains how the CD ended up in the garage—how the shirt ended up in her mom’s trunk.

**Alex groans, shaking his head at his friends.**

“Yep. Alex is still my favorite,” Julie announces.

 **“Thanks. I’ll make sure not to wipe the tables down with this one,” Rose responds,** and Julie’s grateful, at least, that her mom seems completely immune to the boys’ charms. Which, frankly, don’t seem that charming to her at the moment.

**“Good call. When they get wet, they kinda just—fall apart in your hands,” Alex warns her.**

**“Don’t you guys have to go get hot dogs?” Bobby reminds them.**

**“Yeah.” Luke shoves him back one last time. “He had a hamburger for lunch,” he reveals to Rose, before leading the boys away.**

**Bobby smiles, awkwardly.**

“I _can’t believe_ you tried picking up my mom, Luke,” Julie exclaims, right as the scene shifts to outside the Orpheum.

“What are you getting on me for?” Luke shoots back. “Reggie was _way_ worse. So was Bobby!”

“Bobby’s not here, and Reggie flirts with everybody.” Both are true, but not the reason she’s singling Luke out and she knows it.

Unsurprisingly, he only looks more confused. Meanwhile, Alex and Reggie have their eyebrows raised at each other.

“I’m… sorry?” Luke finally says—like it’s a question.

She turns back toward the screen.

**“ _That’s_ what I’m talking about,” Luke thrills as they step out of the Orpheum’s back double doors.**

**“The smell of Sunset Boulevard?” Alex asks, sarcastically.**

**“No,” Luke laughs, kicking at a puddle. “What that girl said in there tonight.”**

Beside her head, the real Luke’s leg bounces.

**“About our music. Right? It’s like an energy—it connects us to people. They can feel us when we play…. I want that connection to _everybody,_ ” he grins, arms over Reggie’s and Alex’s shoulders.**

**“Then we’re gonna need more T-shirts,” Reggie jokes. Luke’s chuckle is soft and fond.**

**“Let’s go, boys,” he instructs, flipping his hood up. He’s actually wearing a jacket—with sleeves—for once. But Reggie drags behind, handing out T-shirts to the girls waiting in line to see them perform. It takes them a minute to recognize him—but when they do, a cheer goes up.**

“Man, all those T-shirts and I’m never even going to get their numbers,” Reggie sighs.

“Who knows? Maybe there’s a ghost girl out there waiting for you,” Luke consoles him, rubbing his dark hair.

“Ya think?”

**The next scene starts with Alex placing pickles on his hot dog. Pickles that are right next to a pair of jumper cables.**

“OK, you told me you died by hot dog. You didn’t mention they were the most suspicious hot dogs ever,” Julie says, unable to believe her eyes right now.

“I think it goes without saying that this was not our finest hour,” Alex grimaces, as his on-screen self points out exactly how dubious their dinner is.

**“Hey, sorry. I got some pickle juice on your battery cables,” he tells the vendor, whose standing over a grill.**

**“No problem. It will help with the rust,” Sal responds, slapping him on the shoulder and chortling.**

**"That can't..." He shakes his head, clearly deciding to let it go.**

**For his part, Luke seems to think there is nothing wrong in the world at that moment—his bright smile back as Alex and Reggie join him on… a couch?** _In the middle of the street? How often did that thing get rained on?_ **“This is awesome,” he insists, biting his lip in excitement. “We’re playing the Orpheum. I can’t even count how many bands have played here and then ended up being _huge_.”**

**Reggie’s face glows with happiness, too.**

**“We’re gonna be legends,” Luke sighs.**

And whatever annoyance Julie felt fades away on the wistfulness in that sound. Unconsciously, she leans her head back against Luke’s knee.

**“Eat up, boys!” he continues, raising his hot dog in cheers.**

****

**“Because after tonight, _everything_ changes….”**

The rest of it plays out like a comedy—each of the boys taking giant bites, obviously noting that something tastes funky, but diving in for seconds anyway. It _should_ be funny—the way Reggie says, **“Chill, Man. Street dogs haven’t killed us yet.”** But it’s not.

Because next thing they know, the screen cuts out—and there is the sound of ambulance sirens roaring down the street. And even though Julie wouldn’t have even met the boys if this hadn’t happened—even though she recognizes that they will share many jokes and tears and songs together after this—anything that hurts them hurts her too. 


	3. Flynn, Carrie, and Nick

Reggie doesn’t remember the hot dogs being quite so _squishy._ “You think they added sound effects or something?” he asks Alex.

“Really? _That’s_ what’s bothering you right now?”

It beats remembering what comes afterward, that’s for sure.

“Hey Reggie,” Julie speaks up from where she sits cross-legged near their feet. The silver sparkles in her hair remind him of a disco ball. “Think I could borrow your flannel? This dress isn’t really comfortable to wear for long.”

It takes him a minute, but—“Oh, yeah, sure,” he agrees, reaching for the knot around his waist. Somehow, untying it and getting the shirt out from under him ends up with his head in Luke’s lap, kicking at the couch arm, but he eventually manages to hand it over.

“Thanks,” she says, forcing a small smile. “I guess I should—”

Her eyes scan the blackness.

“If you don’t want to go out there, we could just… close our eyes?” Alex offers.

“No, it’s OK. Just, uh, keep your ears open?” she asks.

“‘Course,” Luke murmurs, looking almost as worried as she does.

The sound of her footsteps echoing only puts them all more on edge.

Then, she starts humming.

It’s a song Reggie’s never heard before—the sound forcefully loud and cheerful—but it helps, knowing that she’s still nearby.

“Well, Julie seems nice,” he tells the others.

“She’s obviously really close to us,” Alex responds, hands buried deep in his hoodie pockets. “I just wish we knew more about her. Well,” he adds, turning to Luke, “Besides the fact that you two write songs together. Who would have thought that _Luke Patterson_ would ever take someone else’s input on lyrics?”

“I mean, she’s got to be good, right? And she can obviously sing. Even that little bit of _Bright_ was awesome, and it got me thinking about what else we could do if we have someone with a higher register—”

Reggie raises his hand.

“Yeah?” Luke calls on him.

“If Julie is Marty in _Back to the Future,_ wouldn’t she already know whatever songs you plan on writing for her because Other You has already done it?”

“What? No. That can’t be…” His eyebrows come crashing down in thought. “Well, maybe. Sorta feels like cheating on a test if that’s the case.”

“As if you had any problem cheating on math tests,” Alex reminds him, earning him a glare.

It’s then that Julie comes back—wearing black shorts that Reggie guessed were under her dress and his flannel, tied up to make a crop top. She also looks like she has less makeup on—though the string thingies are still in her hair.

“You guys ready to keep going?” she questions, returning to her spot on the far end of the couch.

“Just a sec,” Luke says, hopping up and sliding into the empty space between her and Reggie. “What are these new songs that we came up with? Like mostly revamped Sunset Curve stuff or—”

The springs on the couch squeak slightly with his excitement.

“Luke,” she emphasizes, and though his name seems to slow his frantic movements down, it doesn’t stop them completely. “Luke,” she repeats. “If we keep watching, you’ll be able to see all our performances for yourself.”

“But what if I want to hear them _now_?” he asks, flashing her a sideways grin that brings a flush to even Reggie's cheeks.

“Then I’d say—tough. It’ll sound better with instrumentals anyway.”

He turns the notch up on the charm a little, but she seems determined to hold her ground.

“Fine!” Luke eventually caves.

He glances at the screen. “Do we even have to press the remote anymore or will the thing just start itself?”

**Los Angeles, 2020**

“Guess that answers that question.”

**A bell rings and students swarm into the hallway of Los Feliz High School.**

“Look, Julie, it’s you!” Reggie exclaims, **as the camera tracks one girl in oversized pink plaid with a matching hat on. She opens her locker quickly, only to be approached by another girl in holographic purple.**

**“Hey, Underachiever,” the newcomer says—her smile taking all the sting out of her words.**

**“Hey, Disappointment,” Julie teases back.**

“So, who’s this?” Luke asks.

“Flynn. My best friend since forever. She’s the only other person that knows the truth about you guys.”

**“Okay, I know you don’t want me to ask you this..."**

**"...but have you figured out what you’re going to do today?” Flynn’s eyes are large and pleading.**

“Do about what?”

“You didn’t talk this much when we watched _Accepted_ ,” Julie informs Luke.

“First off, I don’t know what that is. And second, I can bet it wasn’t a magical TV show about our lives, so excuse me for having questions.”

**“I’ll know in the moment,” Julie answers, in the tone of someone who had said the same thing way too often.**

**“Really, Jules? That’s all you’re giving me? Ms. Harrison says that this is your _last chance._ ”**

**“I know,” she promises with only a hint of sarcasm. “I was there.”**

**Off-screen comes the sound of giggles.**

**“Ugh,” Flynn complains, glancing to her right. “What is she handing out?”**

**“Desperation,” Julie quips, but without bite, as someone new appears.**

_Her hair is very… bouncy,_ Reggie thinks.

So is her voice. It jumps up and down like a trampoline. **“Here you go,” this third girl says, handing out a flier. “My group is performing at the spirit rally tomorrow."**

****

**"I’m sure you guys have nothing _better_ to do,” she adds.**

“Okay, so we hate her,” Luke declares, crossing his arms across his chest. “Also, how bad is her group if she has to advertise for an assembly? Aren’t those mandatory?”

“I mean, Carrie and I have beef, yeah, but her group’s not bad. Alex likes them,” Julie mentions.

“And _he’s_ your favorite?” Luke scoffs. “Where’s his sense of loyalty?”

“You’re right.” Julie says, turning halfway in her seat. “Reggie, you’ve just been promoted.”

“Yes!” he fist pumps while Luke pouts.

**“Oh my gosh, Carrie, thaaaankks,” Flynn responds, hand over her heart.**

**“Oh my gosh, Flynn. Don’t bother _coming_ ,” Carrie says back—just as cheerfully—before turning on her heel.**

Reggie nudges Luke. “Girl fights are weird.”

“Tell me about it.”

**Flynn crumples the flier up as soon as Carrie’s back is turned, only to catch sight of the dopey smile on her best friend’s face.**

****

“Who’s that?” Luke asks, jerking his chin toward the screen where **a blonde guy in a varsity jacket holds onto a guitar case.**

“Nobody!” Julie announces, a little too quickly. “I mean, obviously he’s somebody. _Everybody’s_ somebody—but Nick isn’t…”

**“…Nick? Still?” Flynn asks, exasperated. “You know they’re going to get married and have a bunch of unholy babies.”**

**“Nick’s a _sweetheart…_ ” Julie insists.**

**“Yeah, you’d actually have to _talk to him_ to know that.”**

Luke gives Julie the side-eye. “Nobody, huh?”

“Okay, I may—at one point—have had a bit of a crush on him,” she admits, trying to tuck her hair behind her ear, except it’s already pinned back on that side.

“Why?” Luke questions. “I mean, I guess he’s _kinda_ cute—if you’re into that whole teeny bopper thing—but Flynn just said he’s dating Carrie, right? That’s not really a recommendation.”

“You’re telling me your dating history is full of winners?” Julie scoffs.

“Yup. And Alex,” Luke grins while Alex rolls his eyes.

“It doesn’t matter. My point is you can’t judge someone entirely on the people around them. Carrie and I used to be best friends when we were younger.”

“And then she started acting like a jerk and you stopped, right?”

Julie huffs. “Nick’s nice. I don’t like him anymore. Let’s just—move on, shall we?”

**“Only one of them has to be a demon to make a demon baby,” Flynn is still arguing with Julie.**

Luke snorts.

**“Demon!” Flynn calls then, loudly, causing Carrie to whirl around. But the girls are already burying their laughter in their lockers.**

**“There’s that smile,” Flynn glows, gesturing at Julie’s dimples. “Now, let’s go prove _everyone_ wrong.”**

**/////**

Despite what Julie wants, **the show isn’t moving on from Nick just yet. In the next scene, he’s in the middle of the classroom playing his guitar.**

He’s not _bad,_ but he’s not great either. Using too much distortion to cover up the fact he’s not moving between chords fast enough. Which is _probably_ the reason why Luke isn’t talking right now—his smirk is saying it all for him.

Nick _also_ looks a little like he needs to use the bathroom as he strikes the final note. **But the crowd claps enthusiastically anyway, especially Carrie.**

****

**“Nice job, Nick,” the teacher praises. “ _Almost_ as nice as your game against Glendale.”**

**There’s a smattering of laughter as Nick puts his guitar away.**

**“Okay!” the teacher announces. “We have one final performance.” She swivels where she’s standing. “Julie.”**

**Julie stands up hesitantly, leaving her hat on the chair behind her.**

“What’re you looking all shy for?” Reggie wonders out-loud. “Your voice is great! Or are you going to play an instrument? _Do_ you play an instrument?”

**She walks across the room. Then, taking a deep breath, she situates herself at the piano.**

Luke leans forward, eagerly.

**“Take your time,” Ms. Harrison suggests, gently.**

**Julie’s fingers poise themselves on top of the piano keys.**

**They hover.**

**She pulls them away again.**

**“I’m sorry,” she whispers, as Flynn stands and Ms. Harrison’s face flashes disappointment.**

Luke’s does the same.

Alex glances between the screen and the real Julie, who’s staring down at her lap. “Hey, you okay?”

“Yeah,” she says, swallowing past a lump in her throat. “I mean, this was a while ago. But the whole year after my mother died, I couldn’t touch the piano.”

Reggie feels his eyes widen. Did they know that her mom died?

Judging by the looks on the others’ faces, he guesses not. But it feels like something they _should_ have known. And it’s weird because the band was just talking to her—to Rose—only a few hours ago. It doesn’t seem possible for someone that young and alive to be dead now.

Of course, this is coming from a teenage ghost…

Julie clears her throat. “Anyway, it’s not like I forgot what that year was like, but… you guys helped me so much. You gave music back to me. Seeing this just makes me a little sad—and grateful. Don’t know if I’d have ever found my way to it again without you.”

“‘Course you would've,” Luke insists, bumping her shoulder with his own, causing her to jolt a little. “Love like that, it doesn't just go away. And music, it’s always there—for every happy day, every sad day. It would have waited for you.”

Julie’s eyes turn soft. “You know, you make it _really_ hard not to believe you when you talk like that.”

“ _Right?_ ” Reggie says. “He did the same thing for me when I was worried about growing bald like my dad.”

A half-cough, half-laugh startles out of her, which means he’s done his job. “Never change, Reggie.”

**Of course, the mood is brought down almost instantly by Carrie.**

**“…Is this when we clap?” she asks from the audience.**

Luke flexes his biceps, threateningly.

**“Watch it, Carrie!” Flynn curses, right before she chases after the fleeing Julie.**

**/////**

The four of them are pretty quiet—lost in thought—as generic scenes of Hollywood pass by.

That is until—

“You live at Bobby’s house?” Alex exclaims, taking in the familiar grey-shingled exterior.

“I do?” Julie whips her head between the three of them.

“Yeah, we used to rehearse in his parents’ garage.”

“Well, I knew that. That it was your studio before. But I didn’t think about why you would have been rehearsing there.” She chews her bottom lip. “But seriously…. What are the chances that you met my mom right before—well, before— _and_ that _I’m_ the only one who can see you, _and_ I live in your other bandmate’s old house?”

“It must all be connected somehow,” Alex responds. “But it’s like we have too many pieces and not enough pieces at the same time.”

**Suddenly, Julie is on the screen again, her head bent over her homework. She’s changed clothes—into a comfy looking sweater and glasses.**

**“Oh good, you’re home,” comes a voice from the stairs.**

“Is that your dad?” Reggie points at the screen, drawing Julie's attention back. “He’s got very blue eyes.”

“Ah, starting on your crush a little early this time, I see.”

**“I was about to go watch your brother’s game. I’ve had photoshoots all day. Didn’t even get a chance to eat.”**

“Oh, come on, Julie’s dad."

"You call him Ray."

"Ray, you should be taking better care of yourself.”

**“But,” he mentions, “I got a phone call today.”**

**“Yeah…” Julie takes off her glasses. They must be mostly for reading. “I figured as much.”**

“He’s not gonna get mad at you, is he?” Reggie worries a little bit. His parents could be a little intense—okay, a lot intense—most of the time. But she only shakes her head.

**“Yeah. Well, it was my realtor friend.”**

**“Oh! That!”**

**“And she says that if we’re serious about selling the house, she wants me to take some pictures. For the website. Which means we’ve got to do a lot of cleaning and… get rid of some stuff. And maybe…” Julie’s dad looks at her, hesitantly, “…you could tackle Mom’s studio?”**

The three of them try to subtly glance at Julie.

**“You’re the expert,” Ray halfway pleads as her head drops. “Your brother and I wouldn’t even where to begin.”**

**A moment of quiet passes.**

**“It’s OK, honey. If you’re not ready…”**

**“No,” Julie interrupts. “It’s alright. Maybe, I’ll… try tonight.”**

“It’s fine, guys,” Julie tells them when she notices them all staring. “It turned out pretty great for me actually.”

**“Awesome, yeah, thank you,” her dad cheers.**

****

**“Oh, and don’t forget the loft. All of those old instruments that were there when we moved in… They need a new home.”**

“Instruments? Wait… _our_ instruments?! Don’t tell me you guys actually sell those?” For being a dead guy, Luke looks like he’s about to have a heart attack.

“I promise, your instruments are safe.”

**“Mom would like that,” Julie thinks out-loud.**

**“Yeah,” her dad’s voice is a bit fond and a bit sad at the same time. “She would.”**

**A lightbulb appears to go off in his head. “Oh, God, I’m going to be late,” he realizes, patting his pockets for keys.**

**Julie shakes her head, obviously used to the routine. “Under the mail,” she tells him.**

**He points at her.**

**“You’re a lifesaver,” he declares as he goes to retrieve them, missing her exasperated smile.**


	4. You Look Like You've Seen a Ghost

**It’s dark enough that the garden lights are turning on by the time Julie makes her way outside.**

“Well, aren’t those adorable?” Luke grins, gesturing to her monster claw slippers.

Julie obviously tries to glare at him, but the effect is ruined by her blush. Sometimes, Alex wonders if Luke does these things to girls on purpose or if he legitimately doesn’t have an ‘off’ switch.

And yet, Julie isn’t some random fan—or someone who seems like she’d let herself get taken in by a wink and a smile. The fact that she and Luke write together and the way she’d jumped into his arms when she first caught sight of them—it all makes him wonder if there isn’t a story there in the future.

Fortunately, the tension of the moment is broken by Reggie, who loudly announces, “They’re awesome! Think there’s a chance that I can get a pair?”

“I’ll see what I can do,” Julie offers with amusement. “But seriously, guys, you want to pay attention to this. It’s the part where you come in.”

All three of them shift their weight forward, really interested now.

**She doesn’t let herself pause too long outside the studio, worried that she won’t go in at all. Instead, she pulls the doors open smoothly, face lifting as an unexpected gust of wind streaks past her.**

****

_It’s weird how the studio looks exactly the same and still so different,_ Alex thinks. However, there’s clearly only one ghost in the room at the moment, and **Julie makes her way towards it steadily.**

**With a deep breath, she pulls the white sheet off the grand piano. If she looks sad, so does it, like it’s waiting for someone to bring it back to life.**

**Julie moves a stack of sheet music from the piano bench to the top of the instrument, her gaze turning upward. “I’m so sorry, Mom,” she says on a gasp. “…That I haven’t been in here.”**

Alex feels his heart clench, and this time, he’s pretty sure it’s not just phantom indigestion. After all, he knows what it’s like to worry that you’ve disappointed a parent.

Their situations aren’t the same, of course. Julie and her mother clearly had a beautiful relationship. By contrast, his parents got these ideas in their heads of who they _thought_ their children were and tended to love that idea more than the real people. But still, they were his family.

His mom had dutifully carved the crusts off his sandwiches as a kid, even though he was perfectly fine eating them. His dad had always asked for Alex’s help with the Saturday crossword, saying, “Thanks, sport,” whenever Alex successfully solved a puzzle. His sister, Kate, would come home from dance class and show him all the new moves she learned.

Knowing that they were going to pass 25 years without him… it’s a lot to process. But if there is one subject where he’s mastered the art of ‘I’ll worry about it later,’ it’s dealing with his parents.

To be honest, the person he’s most worried about is Luke—and what he’s gonna feel when he realizes that “Unsaid Emily” is never going to be heard by the one person it’s meant for.

And yet, when he looks over at his bandmate, he sees Julie already whispering something to him, squeezing his hand in sympathy.

**Still looking shaky, Julie makes her way up the stairs to the loft. There’s a beanbag chair, a keyboard—**

_My drumsticks,_ Alex notes, frowning.

**And yet, what catches Julie’s eyes is a CD, white letters reading, “Sunset Curve” against a black backdrop.**

A shiver goes up Alex’s spine and he doesn’t think he’s the only one. Actually, Reggie looks like he’s holding his breath.

**She picks it up—finds her way backstairs where her family keeps the CD player, and pops it in.**

**Julie makes it all the way over to the couch before the first few beats of _Now or Never_ blast from the machine.**

Alex finds himself jostled by Reggie as Luke scoots back towards the bassist, dragging Julie with him by the hand, so that they're all closer together.

When they first arrived in the void, it had seemed so creepy specifically because it contained nothing. No moving air, no heat, no cold. Most of all, it was dead silent.

Now, it's still not _cozy_ exactly, but they have their tiny bubble of light. And it feels more complete with Julie there. Beyond that, there is _something_ in the air now—almost an electrical crackle from all the anticipation.

**“Take off! Last stop! Countdown ‘til we blast open the top,” Luke’s voice sounds through the room. It's not quite as energetic as it was live, but Julie’s bouncing her head anyway. “Face first! full charge!—”**

**Julie claps her hands over her ears, as the next few lines are drowned out by shouts.**

****

Alex can’t blame her—the combination of the song and the screams is one of the worst things he’s ever heard, and he lived through Reggie's kazoo phase.

**A portal opens, and three very familiar bodies drop out of thin air.**

****

“Well, _that_ doesn’t sound fun,” Reggie observes, **watching the three of them roll around on the floor, groaning in pain.**

**They stand, shakily, Luke’s eyes rolled so far back in his head that they look completely white. Conveniently, none of them notice Julie—standing, completely terrified, on the other side of the room.**

**“How’d we get back here?” Luke manages to get out before Julie erupts in screams.**

“Way to stay calm, cool, and collected there, Jules," Luke teases. **The screen is frozen on her wide-open mouth and flailing hands.**

She holds up three of her fingers on her free hand. Counts down to two, then one…

**Luke’s yelling is somehow even higher than hers—as he clings to an equally scared Reggie, Alex gripping him from the other side.**

****

“Okay, so we were all a little—reasonably—freaked out,” Luke points out.

**Julie makes a run for it.**

**Out of the studio, through the yard—straight into her dad’s arms.**

**“Woah,” Ray says as he catches her. “Slow down. You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”**

**“I have!” Julie insists.**

**“Cool!” speaks the kid beside her, in the same tone of voice that Reggie uses all the time.**

“Is that your little brother?” Alex asks, noting the baseball cap and jersey.

“Mmhmm, Carlos.”

**“ _Not_ cool,” Julie emphasizes, sounding just like Alex. **

**“Run!” she yells, taking her own advice as she races towards the front door, still screaming all the way up the stairs.**

“So you’re telling us that, somehow, the scenario where you meet us in a dark room after we’ve all died and we have no idea who you are is actually a better first meeting…?” Alex questions.

Julie narrows her eyes. “I still think there’s room for improvement.”

**Hiding behind a cushion in her room, Julie gets out her phone.**

“Is that…a calculator?” Reggie asks, **as Julie types in 911!!**

“A phone, actually.”

They all exchange glances. “I’ll give you guys all the rundown on modern technology later, alright?”

**"Come on, Flynn! 911 means 911," she argues with the screen.**

**“Hey.”**

**Ray’s voice startles Julie into giving another small scream.**

**“Dad,” she sighs, half-way between relieved and annoyed.**

**“Sorry," he says from the doorway. "Just wanted to make sure you were okay.”**

**The corners of her mouth tug downward in a frown. “You don’t believe me, do you?”**

“Yeah. What’s up with that, Ray?” Reggie asks, apparently offended on Julie’s behalf. “You know, parents really should learn to listen to their kids more. Just because the monster under the bed turns out to be your cat _one time_ does not mean that there’s not something else supernatural going on.”

**“Honey, of course I do," he offers, placatingly. " _Mija,_ I see your mom all the time.”**

**“This isn’t like that,” she exclaims, frustration growing.**

**“I know," he says, tone still trying for calm and soothing. "It’s different for all of us.”**

**“ _Dad._ You’re not listening to me. I _saw_ something out there,” she insists, gesturing out the window.**

****

“I mean, I don’t know your dad, but if my sister told our parents she saw three teenage boys in the garage, that would probably get his attention more,” Alex can't help but mention.

Julie tilts her head in consideration. “Probably,” she admits. “But it’s not like he would have actually seen you anyway, so he’d still think I was crazy.”

**“Alright, alright, okay, okay, I’m listening,” Ray says, sitting down on an ottoman and rolling his sleeves up. “Tell me what you saw. It’s just you and me here.”**

**Julie crosses her arms across her chest, defensively. “You sound just like Dr. Turner.”**

“My therapist,” Julie explains, a little self-consciously.

“Hey,” Reggie says, reaching behind Luke’s back to nudge her shoulder. “Nothing wrong with that. You went through something that really sucks at a really young age. I think your mom would be proud of how you've handled yourself.”

“Thanks, Reggie,” she murmurs, pressing her cheek into his hand.

**“Well… maybe seeing Dr. Turner again isn’t _such_ a bad idea.”**

**Instantly, Julie’s walls come back up. “Dad!” she protests, throwing her hands up. “Can we just… drop it?”**

**“Alright,” Ray agrees, making the motion that’s used to declare people safe at home plate. “Dropped.”**

**He holds her eyes as he stands again—clearly checking to see if she’s actually okay. “We good?” he asks, holding out his pointer finger.**

**Julie looks at it and does the same, crossing her finger with her dad’s, before they twist them together.**

“When I was little, the other kids in school kept on talking about pinky promises. But I didn’t think that could be a very strong promise—because the pinky is the smallest finger—so Papi suggested we do that,” Julie says, her voice sounding nostalgic.

“Not believing in ghosts aside, he really does seem like a good dad,” Reggie remarks.

“He is. The best,” Julie agrees, as **Ray takes his leave of her room.**

**However, it’s pretty clear that Julie is still freaking out as she stealthily makes her way over to the window. Nothing looks suspicious from there, but that doesn't mean anything really.**

**Suddenly determined, she grabs the crucifix from off the wall in her room.**

“Ah, come on, Jules. We weren’t that scary,” Luke protests.

“I didn’t know anything about you yet! Trust me, if I had, and I still wanted to intimidate you, I would have brought spiders instead of a cross. You and Reggie actually stayed out of the studio for a whole day while I was at school just so that _I_ could get rid of one for you.”

“That’s not—” Luke tries, but it’s clear he knows exactly what she’s talking about.

“They’ve got so many legs!” Reggie exclaims. “And eyes! Way too many eyes!”

“Where was I?” Alex can’t help but ask, as the group’s usual bug-squasher.

“You were with—” she starts, then stops himself, a smile settling on her face. “Actually, I’m not going to tell you. I’m looking forward to you seeing _that_ for yourself.”

Alex shrugs. Does he want to know? Yes. But honestly, teasing something like that is going to drive Luke way more insane than him—and that’s always kind of fun.

**By the time she’s returned to the studio, Julie is holding the crucifix out in front of her like a sword, sweeping it from side to side. However, the room looks empty.**

**“Are you still here?” she asks the still air.**

**Nothing.**

**“I _know_ I saw something. I’m not crazy,” she declares out-loud.**

**“Well, we’re all a little crazy,” Luke responds with a smile after the three of them reemerge out of thin air. Julie starts shouting again.**

“If we didn’t already know that you could sing, I’d be super impressed with your lung power right now,” Luke announces, wincing.

**On screen, Alex is less tactful. “Oh, God, please stop screaming!” he begs—and surprisingly, Julie listens.**

**“Who are you—and what are you doing in my mom’s studio?” she demands.**

**“Your mom’s studio?” Luke scoffs, coming closer, but Julie stills grips the crucifix in front of her offensively and he backs up onto the piano to get away from it. “This is _our_ studio. Trust me.” **

**Then, he seems to take note of what he’s sitting on. “Fine, the grand piano is new….** **But that’s my couch!” he says, grinning as he takes a running leap at it, flopping onto the fake leather. “Although,” his brow furrows as he spots the instrument propped up against it. “That’s _definitely_ not my six string.”**

**Now that he’s looking around, he spots even more changes. He gets back on his feet, climbing over the coffee table in the process. “Can you just give me one second?” he addresses Julie. “Just one second, thank you,” he repeats as he turns to his boys.**

**“Guys! What is going _on?_ ” he almost interrogates them. “How’d she get her stuff in here so fast?”**

**“Maybe— _maybe,_ she’s a witch,” Reggie suggests, pointing upward. “There’s chairs floating on the ceiling.”**

“Really, Reggie?” Julie grumbles.

“So… I was wrong, but I think I had some pretty good supporting evidence.”

“The chairs are tied up with ropes,” she says in a deadpan.

“Oh. That makes more sense.”

**Alex scoffs. “There is no such thing as witches,” he points out.**

**“Are you sure?” Reggie asks. “Because I used to think there was no such thing as ghosts.”**

**Alex inclines his head. “That’s fair.”**

“Well, that’s kinda freaky,” Alex says, remembering the almost identical conversation they just had about time travel.

“I mean, you are them. Or they are you? It would be weirder if you didn’t think the same way about things, right?” Julie reminds them.

"I suppose...."

“Seeing how many times we repeat ourselves would make for an interesting drinking game.” Luke's smile borders on devilish. “If we had alcohol," he conceded.

Julie turns to look at him.

"Or weren’t underage. Or weren’t ghosts who aren’t capable of drinking anything.”

**“Okay, so we’re going with witch,” Luke summarizes, turning to Reggie.**

“Seriously?!”

**“No, we’re not going with _witch_ ,” comes the sole voice of reason.**

“Alex’s my favorite again,” Julie announces.

“Probably deserved at this point,” Luke mumbles to himself.

**“Look,” Alex reasons. “She’s probably just scared. Let someone with a softer touch handle this.”**

“Your hands are only softer because drums aren’t as rough on the fingers,” Luke mutters under his breath.

**Alex approaches Julie cautiously. “ _Why are you in our studio?_ ” he demands, both too slowly and too loudly.**

“Also, I wouldn’t call that a particularly soft touch.” 

**Out of ideas, Julie's on-screen self thrusts the crucifix through Alex’s chest, only for her hand to go straight through him. She yanks it out again, even more alarmed. “Oh my gosh! How did you do that?!”**

**“Well, clearly you’re not listening,” Alex says, gesturing back to Luke and Alex.**

“Was I supposed to be eavesdropping on your private conversation?” Julie asks.

“I mean, I think we kinda expected you to.”

“That explains so much.”

**“We’re ghosts,” Alex explains, slowly. “We’re just three ghosts and we’re—really happy to be home, so… thank you for the flowers,” he says, gesturing to where several hanging planters are arranged near the windowsill. “They really… brighten up the room, but…”**

**Luke pushes his way forward. “We’re actually in a band called _Sunset Curve,_ ” he says as if that should mean something to her. (“Tell your friends,” Reggie tacks on, automatically.)**

****

**“Last night was actually meant to be a _really_ big night for us. It was gonna change our lives.”**

“I’m pretty sure it did,” Alex mentions to Luke.

**“I’m pretty sure it did,” on-screen Alex echoes.**

“Yeah. Still not entirely comfortable with that.”

**“This is freaking me out,” Julie declares, reaching into her back pocket for her cell.**

**Luke’s eyebrows furrow. “What—what is that?” he asks, pointing at the device.**

**“It’s my phone,” she explains before instantly chiding herself. “No, stop talking to them. They aren’t real. There’s no such thing as cute ghosts.”**

**Reggie looks at her smugly, “Oh. Think we’re cute?”**

Julie glances over to where the current Reggie has his mouth open, presumably to ask the same thing. “Yes, you’re cute. And all of you _know_ that you’re cute—so I don’t know why you need me to tell you.”

“But who’s the cut _est_?” Luke questions, fluttering his eyelashes.

**The screen fritzes for a second—like it’s had a power surge—until an image of Luke appears. Only, it doesn't seem like it's from the same day. For one thing, his clothes are different. Instead of his Rush tank, he's wearing a long-sleeve, maroon-colored shirt, and he's scrubbing the back of his neck bashfully. "I—I—think you make me a better writer," he confesses.**

****

“Ah!” Julie says, a second before the screen flashes back to the four of them in the studio. “I mean… that was weird, right?”

Luke only seems confused, but Alex is becoming less so.

He raises his eyebrows at her, but she's steadfastly not looking at anyone. “You can play any time now,” she mumbles at the TV.

**“I’m googling Sunset Swerve,” Julie explains, fingers already flying over the keys.**

**“Sunset Curve,” three voices chorus.**

“Now, I know we called you a witch, but come on, Jules, that one hurt,” Luke insists, hand over his heart.

**“There _is_ a Sunset Curve,” she announces. Then her eyes skim the rest of the article. “You did die,” she says, almost not believing the words that are about to come out of her mouth, “but not last night…. Twenty…five years ago?”**

**Reggie is the first to deny it. “No, no, no, no, no. That’s—that’s impossible. After we floated out of the ambulance—”**

“—which is not as much fun as it sounds,” Reggie inserts.

“Dude, it doesn’t sound fun at all.”

**“—all we did is go to that weird, dark room where Alex cried.”**

**“ _Well_ ,” Alex states, voice going impressively high-pitched. “I think—I think we were all a bit upset.”**

“It’s a normal, biological reaction to stress,” he tacks on for his present company.

“Don’t let them get to you, Alex,” Julie insists.

**“But that was just for, like, an hour,” Luke mentions. “We just showed up here.”**

On the couch, the three of them glance at the blackness a little more warily than they had been.

**“Look, I’m just telling you what my phone says,” Julie informs them, holding up the screen. “See? It says you died in 1995. When you were 17. It’s now 2020.”**

**“So, this is the future!” Reggie marvels, seeming almost excited.**

**Alex, to put it mildly, is not.**

**“So—so—it really _has_ been 25 years?” He turns to Luke, his hands giving away his anxiety before the words can tumble out of his mouth. “I have been _crying_ in a room for _25 years_. _How_ is that even _possible?!”_**

**__ **

**“Well, you’re a very emotional person,” Reggie tries to point out.**

**“I am _not,_ ” he insists, clearly very emotional at the moment.**

“If it makes you feel better, these guys are just as bad in their own ways,” Julie speaks up.

“I really don’t think—”

“I'm not sure about that—”

Luke's and Reggie's combined protests wind up turning into an incoherent mess.

Julie just shakes her head, amused.

**However, Alex’s breakdown is interrupted by Carlos’s sudden appearance in the garage. “Thought you were afraid to come out here?” he mocks his sister. “You talking to your ghost friend? How does he look? Is he hideous?”**

****

“Joke’s on him if it turned out to _actually_ be your mom.”

**“Ha. He can see you,” Alex teases Reggie.**

**“No, he can’t,” Julie answers automatically.**

**Carlos looks around, confused. “What?”**

**Julie flounders to come up with an explanation and when she can’t think of one, just moves past the moment and hopes her brother won’t notice. “What do you want?” she asks.**

**"A normal sister, for starters. Now, stop being weird and come eat," he declares before turning and leaving.**

“You could have probably worked a ‘please’ into that, Little Dude,” Reggie admonishes.

“Weirdly enough, I do think his manners have gotten better since you’ve been around—even if he can’t see or hear you. Maybe, you guys fill the house with a good aura or something,” Julie offers, earning her a soft smile from the bassist.

**“He couldn’t see you,” Julie repeats once her brother is gone.**

**Alex shrugs his shoulders. “Yeah… I mean that’s… usually… how ghosts work.” The “right?” is implied.**

**Julie shakes her head, completely overwhelmed. “Look. I am very sorry for what happened to you guys but this—it isn’t your studio anymore. You have to leave,” she decides before attempting to follow her brother back inside.**

**Luke takes a large step after her. “Wait!”**

**He stutters a little when she turns around. “We—we didn’t even get your name.”**

**“It’s Julie,” she says, her voice still without the slightest bit of give.**

**“Cool. I-I’m Luke, by the way,” he offers, reaching forward as if to grab her hand. She just holds the crucifix up in response. Quickly, he changes course. “And—and this is…”**

**“Reggie! I’m Reggie,” Reggie offers.**

**“And…”**

**“Alex,” Alex introduces himself. “How’s it going?” he tacks on, unnecessarily.**

**“Ba duh,” Luke sings, quietly, presenting the group like he’s Vanna White.**

****

**Julie doesn’t seem impressed. “Okay,” she acknowledges before escaping up the gravel path to her house.**

**Reggie looks at his friends in her absence. “Julie seems nice."**

“No, I really didn’t,” Julie grimaces. “And I’m sorry for that. What happened to you was terrible and I should have tried to put myself in your shoes a little more."

Luke shrugs. “You were having a bad day.”

“You had a bad 25 years,” she responds, smiling in a way that doesn’t quite fit the conversation.

**“Did you miss the part where she kicked us out?” Alex reminds his friend.**

**The defeat in Reggie’s shoulder speaks the answer for him.**

**“Yeah,” Alex says, as Luke pats Reggie consolingly on the back.**


	5. Wake Up

**“Okay, let’s do this,” Ray says to his children after they have finished setting four places at the dinner table. The three of them hold hands. However, it’s an incomplete circle with Julie and Carlos extending their arms towards their mom’s empty seat.**

Luke looks down at the girl tucked close into his side. He can see Rose in her now that he knows to look for it—the tight, spiraling curls, the heart-shaped face, even the way her voice bunches syllables together at the end of her sentences.

However, there’s a different kind of fire in Julie’s eyes.

He thinks about the way Rose talked about music back at the Orpheum—she knew her stuff, he was sure, but when she’d mentioned the bands she’d been in, there was something a little resigned about it. She’d let her dream of making it big one day go.

Julie’s like him, he can tell. Hopeful to the point that others might call what they have wishful thinking. But they’d be wrong.

That’s not to say they hadn’t had setbacks—Luke would argue that dying and losing the person who inspired you to pursue music in the first place were pretty huge ones, actually. But it wasn’t something that they _could_ ever give up in the long run—because music isn’t a hobby, or a career, or even a passion. It’s the core of who they were.

Julie tilts her head to look at him. “You okay?” she murmurs, voice low enough that he doubts the others can hear.

“Yeah, m’fine. Just hoping I can hear you sing again soon, to be honest.”

A single dimple appears in her cheek. “I’m sure you will.” She turns back to the screen, “Now, focus. You guys are about to interrupt family dinner soon, and I want you to know what I’m talking about when I reference how annoying you are in the future.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he says, only slightly mockingly.

“It’s Boss, actually.”

**“Your turn Carlos,” Ray reminds his son.**

**The three of them bow their heads.**

**“Thank you for our leftovers and the power of the mighty microwave! Amen!”**

**“Amen!” Julie echoes amid Ray’s chuckles.**

Out of the corner of his eye, Luke sees Alex’s shoulders relax. He’s still Christian himself but tends to get nervous around people who take religion too seriously—which it would appear Julie’s family does not.

**“So…” Julie’s dad starts, as he ladles noodles onto Julie’s plate. “Carlos tells me that he found you in the studio.”**

**“She was out there talking to herself,” Carlos accuses.**

**But Julie’s had some time to think about it now. “I was rehearsing for a play,” she tells her family, just as a distant “Hello, hello,” sounds from the back door.**

**All three of their faces transform in an instant.**

**“Oh, _busted,_ ” Carlos announces, as they all scramble to hide the fourth place setting. Ray even goes so far as to chuck the silverware across the floor of the kitchen.**

“You guys don’t have any pets, do you?” Reggie asks. “Because that seems dangerous.”

**A middle-aged woman walks into view, carrying several covered dishes. “I see you’re having spaghetti. Again.”**

“Before you guys ask, that’s my aunt Victoria,” Julie tells the group. “She’s nice but, uh, a bit aggressive about trying to help us with everything since Mom died.”

**“That’s too bad. I brought you my _pasteles_ and _arroz con pollo_.”**

**“Yum,” Ray offers.**

**“Mmhmm, thanks, _Tia_ ,” Julie adds, mouth still partially full of noodles. “Smells great.”**

“We’re not gonna be able to eat as ghosts, are we?” Reggie asks, with what is definitely a pout. “Because all this talk of food is making me hungry.”

“Sorry,” Julie winces. “Also, now that I’m thinking about it, if I’m a ghost too, it means I can’t have brownies ever again. And I _love_ brownies.”

“Tacos. Tacos are where it’s at,” Reggie responds, wistfully.

“Peanut butter Eggo’s,” Luke says on a sigh.

“I’m gonna miss blackberries,” Alex joins in, prompting all of them to stare at him.

Luke picks a pillow off the couch and chucks it at his head.

**“Well, you can have it tomorrow,” Victoria acknowledges, finding a place for the Tupperware in the fridge. “Can’t let you have leftovers every night. My sister would kill me.”**

“But you have to make spaghetti in order to have leftovers,” Reggie tells Tia through the screen. “There-go, they can't have had leftovers every night.”

“It’s ‘therefore’ or ‘ergo’,” Alex corrects. “But—in general, yeah.”

**She comes over, patting the empty fourth side of the table. “I see things are going better.”**

**“Actually,” Ray says, with obvious pride. “Julie has been cleaning out Mom’s studio. Hopefully, we can get the house on the market and some offers. Soon.”**

**“Well, I like the sound of that. Moving from here is only going to help you move on. You’ve got to rip that band-aid off and get the pain over with.”**

**At that moment, Julie’s eyes alight on Alex, then Luke, then Reggie all tripping through the front door.**

“What are we doing?!” Alex asks. “We can’t just—barge into someone’s house like that.”

“So, what I’m hearing is that it was Luke’s or Reggie’s idea and you caved to peer pressure,” Julie declares.

“Uhhh….”

**“D’ahhh!” she screams, causing all three boys to freeze in their tracks.**

**Her family turns startled eyes on her. “Uh,” she says, smiling nervously, “That’s me—ripping off the band-aid. D’ahhh!” As if it doing it a second time will make her look any less crazy.**

**Unbelievably, her family buys it.**

**“That’s my brave girl,” Tia says, gripping Julie’s chin, as Carlos points finger guns at her.**

“I don’t know if it’s a good or a bad thing that I’ve gotten better at lying since I met you.”

“Probably bad, but I’m still proud of you,” Luke grins.

**Apparently thinking they’re safe for the moment, the boys continue towards her.**

****

**“Hey Julie,” Luke greets, leaning down to eye level. “I really like what you guys did with the place.”**

**“You shouldn’t be here,” Julie grits out.**

**Behind her, Tia gives an affronted gasp.**

“My bad, my bad,” Luke admits, worrying his bottom lip between his teeth.

**“I’m just here to help, _mija_ ,” she insists, rubbing soothing circles into Julie’s back.**

**“I think _that’s_ our cue to leave,” Alex tells Luke.**

**“I mean,” Julie struggles to find yet another convincing cover-up. “You should be at Pilates. Thanks for bringing us food!” she says, hugging her aunt, tightly, while glaring in Luke's direction.**

“Somehow, I can still feel that through the screen.”

**“We should have called first,” Reggie agrees with Alex, helping to hustle the boys back outside.**

**“It’s nothing,” Tia promises. “And… now that you’re no longer in the music program—”**

“Aww, come on, Tia,” Reggie complains. “Let Julie tell Ray herself.”

**“—you can concentrate on classes that matter.” Tia turns to Julie’s dad, whose hands have come together in front of his face to hide his frown. “You got the email from the school, right?”**

**“Yeah,” he lies, giving Julie a meaningful gaze. “We’re still discussing it.”**

“Wow, Ray’s eyes are scary when they’re angry,” Reggie shivers. “I mean, still really blue. But scary.”

**“Well,” Victoria says, oblivious to the sudden mood change. “I’m off to Pilates.” She blows Carlos a kiss that he catches and then attempts to hit with an invisible baseball bat, then presses another to Julie’s head before leaving in a flurry of energy.**

**The tension in the room grows thicker.**

**“So, Julie,” Carlos attempts to give her a way out. “Want to hear about how I slid into home and was almost safe?”**

“So, he wants to tell a story about how he got out...?” Alex summarizes.

“Yeah, well, Dad’s always been pretty big on celebrating failures. He says they’re a necessary part of life and that if you’re so scared of failing, you don’t try, then you’re already out of the running. But if you try enough times even after failure, you’ll eventually succeed.”

“It’s like he’s a fortune cookie!” Reggie declares.

Alex nods. “A slightly wordy fortune cookie.”

**“You’re a good brother, but that’s not going to work,” Ray announces, snapping his fingers, indicating the direction of the living room.**

**He waits until it’s just the two of them.**

**“Why didn’t you tell me?” he demands, breaking the lingering quiet. “You made me lie to your aunt.”**

“Technically, he was already lying to your aunt when you guys hid the extra plate and stuff,” Luke points out.

**“Sorry,” Julie says in a small voice. “I was gonna tell you after dinner.”**

**“Yeah…” Ray responds, with clear disbelief.**

**“I _was._ ”**

**Ray obviously makes an effort to gentle his tone. “Honey, I know those classes can be difficult… But you still like music, don’t you?”**

**Her face crumples. “I don’t know… Maybe?”**

Julie’s head leans into Luke’s shoulder. “This okay?” her eyes ask when their gazes meet. He nods.

 **“Look, we’ve talked about this—and how painful memories can be, but… You know, every time I see you and Carlos, I see Mom. It’s like she’s right here with us. But you know what? I _love_ that. I _do_ ….” ** **His eyes turn pleading. “Maybe… if you give yourself a chance, you’ll get there.”**

“What a sweet family moment,” Reggie observes.

**Just then, the sound of rock music blares from outside.**

“That we just ruined,” Alex sighs.

**Instantly, Julie scrambles to her feet. “I must have left the stereo on in the garage! I’ll… go get it.”**

**Meanwhile, out in the studio, the boys are completely oblivious to anything besides the song.**

**They don’t even notice when she stomps in, still wearing her monster-claw slippers.**

**“Guys…! _Guys!_ ” **

**Luke at least turns around to face her but doesn’t stop playing.**

**“Stop! Enough! Stop! _Cut it out!”_**

**It’s clear they don’t want to, but they’re near the end anyway, so with one last riff from Luke and a drumroll from Alex, the song fades into the air.**

**They’ve each got a bright smile on their face—which is the last way to placate an angry girl.**

**“The whole neighborhood can hear you!” Julie yells as soon as they’re done. “I thought I told you to leave!”**

“Unfortunately, Julie,” Julie speaks to herself. “And I cannot stress this enough—they _never_ listen to you.”

**“Wait,” Luke cuts her off, a spark coming into his eye. “P-people can hear us play?”**

**“Yes! And so did my dad. _And_ my brother.”**

**Alex’s voice spikes on the way out. “W-w-w-wait. So only _you_ can see us, but everyone can _hear_ us…?”**

“Pretty much,” Julie answers the TV. “Just the instruments though. I don’t think people can hear your vocals. At least not when you’re by yourself.”

**“I mean… what kind of ghosts are we?”**

**“Who cares, Man?” Luke sounds so pumped. He fist-bumps first Reggie, then Alex. “People can hear us play.”**

**“We might be dead, but our music isn’t,” Reggie announces before inciting a second round of fist-bumps.**

“You know what I just noticed?” Reggie interrupts, staring at the frozen screen.

“That you’re actually not as tall as me, you just have really tall hair?” Luke suggests.

“ _No_ ,” Reggie answers definitely. “What I was gonna say is that you and Julie are wearing matching colors.” He points to the TV, where the letters making up the word “Rush” on Luke’s shirt are exactly the same shade of mustard as Julie’s sweater, the same way the blue of his jacket matches the collar of her undershirt. Not to mention the white accents.

“Huh,” Luke says.

“Great minds, I guess,” Julie shrugs.

**Suddenly, the door to the studio creaks open as Ray lets himself inside.**

**“Dad!” Julie exclaims.**

**“Hey, just—making sure you’re okay.”**

**“Yeah, I’m fine. I just had to turn off the CD player,” Julie answers, gesturing to the stereo that started this whole thing. But Ray’s eyes are caught on the boy’s instruments.**

**“Is this the junk that was in the loft?” he marvels.**

**“Junk?” Luke has possibly never sounded so offended.**

**But Ray is already rounding Alex’s drum set, giving the different parts a few experimental hits. “Some of this is in pretty good shape.” He spins the cymbals with his fingers. “Maybe we can make a couple of bucks.”**

“I know he’s your dad, Jules, but if he actually sells our instruments, we will _haunt_ him,” Luke announces, firmly.

“I already told you that your instruments are going to be fine. And you’re not haunting anyone. _Anyone._ You understand me?”

“Why does this sound like a future thing you’re mad about?”

“Ding, ding, ding. We have a winner.”

**“Stop touching my drums!” Alex yells to him from the background. When that doesn’t seem to work, he turns to Julie, “ _Tell him_ to stop touching my drums.”**

****

**It’s clear that Luke is on his side, too, but it’s not like there’s anything she can _do_ anything about it.**

**“I like that song you were playing,” Ray adds, which at least makes Luke happier.**

**(“We’re Sunset Curve,” he advertises, followed up, as always, by Reggie’s “Tell your friends.”)**

****

**“It’s just an old CD I found,” Julie responds, making sure to put emphasis on the “old.”**

**“Still. It’s nice that you’re listening to music again. Out here, you can listen to whatever you want—whenever you want,” he promises, arms unknowingly going through Reggie’s and Luke’s stomachs as he talks.**

“I’m not looking forward to figuring out what that’s like,” Alex mumbles, nose scrunched up in distaste.

“Reggie once described it as feeling like an Etch-a-Sketch,” Julie pipes up. “But I think only Reggie has a chance of knowing what that means.”

**“That’s nice,” Reggie says to Ray.**

**“Stay out of this,” Julie retorts back, only for her father to flinch.**

**“I—I’m sorry, honey. I didn’t—”**

**“Oh, no, no, not you—” Julie stutters, desperate. “I just…” Yeah, she’s got nothing. “You know—give me a minute,” she requests, leading her dad back towards the door, so she can finally give the ghosts her undivided attention.**

**“He likes our song,” Luke jumps in to say as soon as Ray’s left, his smile a combination of proud and little-boy shy.**

**“Yeah…” Alex responds, much less enthusiastically. “Doesn’t count. He’s a dad.”**

“Technically, he’s as old as you guys would be if you had lived,” Julie points out—only to immediately flinch. “Nope, nope, not thinking about that. Forget I said anything.”

**Julie couldn’t care less about their inter-band squabble. “Why can’t you just be _normal ghosts_?” she demands. “Hang out in an old mansion? I hear Pasadena’s nice.” **

**She gives a final groan of frustration before fleeing the scene.**

**Alex puts on his most sarcastic smile. “ _I_ think she’s warming up to us.”**

“You _are_ gonna start liking us soon, right?” Luke asks, a little worried.

Julie just adjusts her head on his shoulder.

**Julie’s walking up the path to her house when Luke suddenly teleports in front of her.**

Reggie is bouncing excitedly. “We have superpowers! We _actually_ have superpowers! Please tell me we get costumes and rescue kittens from trees,” he begs Julie.

Luke’s just imagining the feeling of tight spandex sleeves—and shudders.

“No comment,” Julie says.

**Julie screams—but it’s a short one this time.**

**“Stop that,” she orders. “I’m serious.”**

**“I’m sorry,” Luke says, and at least he sounds sincere.**

**“What do you want?” Julie asks, crossing her arms over her chest.**

**“I know that this is all completely insane,” Luke starts. “But you do know how rad this is, right? People— _actual_ people—can hear us play.”**

**“Yeah,” Julie responds, not looking sympathetic at all. “It’s just I’ve had a really— _really_ -awful day. I’ve gotta go,” she insists, more determined than ever to move past him.**

**“I’m sorry you had a bad day,” he repeats. “But three guys just found out that they had a bad _25 years_.” His body language emphasizes every word.**

“Ahh,” Luke grins, remembering what Julie had said earlier. “Look at me, catching up to our inside jokes.”

He’s learning already that Julie has several different kinds of smiles. The one she throws at him now is small, but still shows off the cute gap between her teeth.

**“—And then they found out that the one thing— _the one thing_ —they lived for in the first place, they can still do. That’s pretty rad.”**

**“You’re right. It’s just—”**

**“Your bad day,” Luke finishes for her. “I know.”**

**He turns away from her, voice growing raspy. “Look, I’m sorry that we came into your life…”**

“Never apologize for that,” Julie whispers. She raises her head to make eye contact with the others. “None of you.”

**“But…” Luke’s eyes look like miniature moons—large and almost-glowing in the darkness. “What I just felt in there made me feel _alive_ again. We all felt _alive_ again. So, you can kick us out if you want. But we’re not giving up music. We can _play_ again. That’s a gift no musician would _ever_ turn down.”**

“You know, we’re so lucky that it’s Julie that found us. Not everyone is going to be swayed by the ‘music is life’ speech, Luke,” Alex mentions.

“Considering everything we know, you really think luck had anything to do with it?”

Alex tilts his head. “Good point.”

**“You gotta know that. _Clearly,_ your mom is into music.”**

**“Was,” Julie corrects, smally. “She passed away.”**

Luke squeezes Julie’s other shoulder—the one not already pressed to his side.

**His face falls. “I’m—so sorry.”**

****

**“We didn’t know,” Alex’s voice joins the mix—though Julie’s not sure if he and Reggie walked over or poofed in.**

**“It’s alright,” Julie responds, and, for the first time, her tense posture relaxes around them. “You guys haven’t seen her anywhere, have you? Wherever you’re from…?”**

**“No. You’re—kinda—the first person we’ve seen,” Alex says.**

Even watching it on screen, it feels sucky disappointing her.

**“But we’re sorry—for your loss.”**

**“Thank you,” Julie answers. “…I’m sorry I got mad.”**

“Is this it? Is this when we all start being friends?” Reggie questions eagerly, sitting on the edge of his seat.

**“You guys are… kinda good,” Julie concedes, tucking her hands into her pockets.**

**“Kinda?” Luke asks defensively. “You know that’s like 25 years of rust just—getting dusted off, right?”**

**“Do you play the piano, too?” Reggie interrupts Luke with a look back at the studio.**

**“No, no. I don’t play. That’s just—my mom’s stuff in there.”**

“So clearly the lying isn’t _entirely_ our influence,” Luke admonishes.

**“No way!” Luke’s vibrating even more now. “She’s an _amazing_ songwriter!”**

Just hearing himself talk about it is enough to get Luke excited.

**“She was…” Julie agrees, staring at the ground.**

**Then, her head snaps up. “Wait! How would you know?”**

**“There’s a song on the piano,” Luke explains. “If it’s hers… your mom was really talented.”**

**Darkness is settling in even more heavily now—and they can all feel it. Gravel crunches under Julie’s feet as she turns to leave again.**

**She stops herself. “I guess… if you need a place to stay,” she gestures behind Reggie and Alex. “You can stay in there.”**

**The three guys exchange cautious smiles.**

**“There’s a bathroom in the back and a couch that turns into a bed—if you still use any of that stuff.”**

“Why would we—” Alex begins, **only to be interrupted by Reggie’s, “Dibs on the shower!”**

**His other two bandmates look at him in disbelief.**

**“I just really like showers. And sometimes the occasional bath.”**

“Did I ever try it out?” Reggie wants to know.

“You said it was like listening to a white noise machine—but naked.”

“And that’s officially too much information for me,” Alex says, covering his head with his hands.

**Luke and Julie both shake their heads—the former fondly, the other like she can’t believe what her life has become. “This—” She moves her hands like she’s washing a car. “Is just too weird,” she declares before finally making her exit.**

**Surprisingly, Alex is the first to break out in a full-on ecstatic grin. But Luke isn’t very far behind as he slaps his friends’ shoulders eagerly.**

****

**/////**

**There is a tiny scene of Julie deciding not to tell Flynn about the boys, before the camera cuts to—of all places—the Orpheum.**

**With a whoosh, the boys appear on top of the marquee sign.**

**“I know being dead isn’t our first choice,” Luke says, patting Alex’s knee. “But I mean, it sure is easy getting around.”**

**Reggie looks down at his bare chest. “Easy for _you_ to say, maybe. I lost my shirt on that one!”**

“I don’t know, Reg. I think it’s a good look on you.”

“You’re lucky none of you are girls,” Julie mutters with a head shake.

**There’s a flash—and Reggie’s shirt reappears. “Oop! Never mind.”**

****

**Alex spreads his hands wide. “So… why’d you bring us here? Just another painful reminder of where we never got to play?”**

“Knowing Luke, it’s gonna be something much more ‘They can take our lives, but they can never take our freedom!’ than that.”

Julie’s forehead furrows. “You guys know _Braveheart_?”

“Course we do. It just came out in theaters before—well, you know...”

“ _Right._ ”

**“I mean, boys, the game’s not over yet,” Luke insists, as they all teleport down to the ground. “I’m _tell_ -ing you. We’ve been given a second chance.” He stalks down the street with purpose, barely noticing the people phasing through him and Reggie. “Let’s find some music. Let’s see how many clubs we can hit before sunrise.”**

**Suddenly, Alex is knocked off course. “Hey,” he startles, turning to see—**

**A guy in a top hat and long coat. Stranger, the guy clearly sees him.**

Julie is up and out of her seat in a minute, nose practically pressed to the screen. “Is that…?”

But she doesn’t seem inclined to finish her sentence—she just continues looking at the frozen TV.

“Who, Jules?” Luke eventually asks, having run through his 0.5 seconds of patience.

“Uh… you guys end up on the wrong side of an evil ghost.”

“We meet other ghosts?” questions Reggie.

“More importantly, we meet an _evil_ ghost?” Alex wants to know.

“Yes. His name’s Caleb. But I don’t—I’ve never seen him. I just know the description you guys gave, but—that seems like it could be him.” It might just be the glow of the TV screen, but Julie looks like she’s actually shaking a bit and it's worrying him.

“So, we just stay away from ghosts in top hats and we’re good, right?” Luke suggests, as much to comfort her as the boys. Yup, she’s definitely shaking. He gets up, luring her back towards the couch.

“Doesn’t that seem a little prejudiced?” Reggie wonders out-loud.

“I don’t care. Please, please—if that _is_ Caleb, don’t—”

“Shh, Jules, it’s okay," Luke whispers. "It’s all going to be okay.”

She turns, fully burying her head in his chest. “Promise me that if you see him, you guys will poof out of there as fast as you can.”

“We promise,” Luke says, now rubbing small circles into her back.

“Yeah,” Reggie reassures her, followed by Alex.

**On screen, Luke's voice calls to Alex from several feet away, “Hey, you coming?”**

**The drummer, still obviously bewildered, jogs to catch up.**

**/////**

The screen automatically pauses for several minutes after the last scene, letting Julie get her bearings.

“I’m sorry,” she says at last. “Sorry if I scared you. That was a lot.”

“Jules, I know we don’t really _know you_ know you yet, but we’ve seen you handle meeting three ghosts, dying, not to mention all your family stuff damn well. If you’re upset, it’s because you have a right to be,” Luke murmurs, brushing a stray strand of hair out of her face. “Now, you want to tell us what the big deal is about this Caleb guy?”

“Yeah, how evil are we talking here? Like the bandits from _Home Alone_ evil or Darth Vader evil?” That’s Reggie, of course.

But Julie just shakes her head. “I know I have to tell you about him, and I will, but—later?” she requests. “Maybe when we get to that part of the show? It’s not like I know all the details anyway and I just don't think I can handle it right now.”

“Yeah, sure,” Luke responds without even thinking about it. It’s not like he’s looking forward to that conversation either.

“But I do have some good news,” Julie offers, and he’s glad he can hear the smile back in her voice even if she’s not actually wearing one yet.

“Oh yeah. What’s that?”

She nods at the screen, where **her past self is making her way down to the studio.** “There’s about to be a song.”

“Awesome!” Luke says and means it.

**“Guys?” Julie calls after stepping her way hesitantly into the garage. “Guys?” she calls again, spinning around in circles.**

**No response.**

“The chains on your pants match Luke’s too,” Reggie observes.

“Shh,” Luke says, anticipation thrumming through him as **Julie walks over to the piano and starts spreading sheet music out in front of her.**

****

**She lifts the cover hiding the keys.**

_She’s gonna play, she’s actually gonna play,_ he thinks, which is stupid since Julie already told him what was going to happen.

And yet, he’s still awestruck at the way **the notes flutter out of her fingertips, quick and light like autumn leaves.**

**“Here’s the one thing  
I want you to know  
You got someplace to go-o-o…**

**Life’s a test, yes,  
But you go toe-to-toe.  
You don’t give up.  
No, you gro-o-ow….”**

He’s almost positive his mouth has dropped open.

He thought he was prepared to hear her sing, based on that little bit of _Bright_ —but it’s amazing how her voice wraps around every new song, sounding exactly like Julie and nothing like her at the same time.

**“And you use your pain  
‘Cause it makes you you  
Though I wish I could hold you through it…” **

**“I know it’s not the same  
You got living to do  
And I just want you to do it…”**

**She takes a breath,** and he does too, realizing that he’d been holding it.

 **“So get up, get out  
Relight that spark  
You know the rest by heart…” Her voice dips, **probably to its lowest note.

 **And then the music picks up again—** easy, sunshine notes.

**“Wake up, wake up if it’s all you do-o-o.  
Look out, look in—side of yo-o-ou.  
It’s not what you lost, it’s what you’ll gain  
Raising your voice to the ra-ai-ain!”**

**She talks about rain, but light starts to burn through the window at her back** and Luke almost feels like she’s summoning it. The way it catches in the curls of her hair casts a halo over her.

**“Wake up your dream and make it tr-u-u-e  
Look out, look in—side of you-o-u—”**

**Ray emerges from the house as if transfixed.**

**“It’s not what you lost  
Relight that spark  
Time to come out of the dark  
Wake up.” Her fingers dance. “Wake up.”**

For a second, Luke worries that the song is over, but no, **more music is pouring out of Julie, the golden glow growing.**

**“Better wake those demons,  
Just look them in the eye  
No reason not to tr-r-y  
Life can be a mess, yes,  
I won't let it cloud my mi-i-ind  
I'll let my fingers fl-l-y.”  
  
“And I use the pain 'cause it's part of me,” she sings, through suddenly clenched teeth.**

**  
“And I'm ready to power through it  
Gonna find the strength, find the melody  
'Cause you showed me how to do it  
Get up, get out, relight that spark  
You know the rest by heart.”**

**“Wake up, wake up, if it’s all you do-o-o.  
Look out, look in—side of yo-o-ou—”**

**Carlos hears her, too, and comes out onto the porch, resting his chin against the railing to listen.**

****

**“It’s not what you lost,  
Relight that spark.  
Time to come out of the dark  
Wake up.”**

**Overcome by the music now, Julie rises to her feet as another “Wake up!” soars out of her.**

****

**“So wake that spirit, spir-i-it  
I wanna hear it, he-ea-ar it,” she belts, eyes to the ceiling.  
“No need to fear it, you're not alone  
You're gonna find your way…hoOOOMME!!!”**

That’s it.

Luke thought he loved music as much as he was capable of—with every (former) beat of his heart and pulse of (former) blood through his veins—but suddenly, he feels another level of that passion unlocking inside of him. Because he’s never heard music the way Julie sings it—like she’s pulling the soul of the lyrics out through her voice and magnifying it.

 **Her fingers leave the piano so just her words hang in the air,** suspended and glowing like the dust motes all around her. **“Wake up, wake up, if it's all you do.”**

**A resurgence of piano—“Look out, look in-side of you  
It's not what you lost, it's what you'll gain  
Raising your voice to the rain  
Wake up your dream and make it tru-u-u-e,” she smiles, completely in her element.**

**“Look out, look inside of you  
When you're feeling lost…”**

The camera pans and Luke can sense what's coming before he’s even shown it. **He, Alex, and Reggie standing behind her—just as awestruck as they are now.**

**“…Relight that spark**  
**Time to come out of the dark**  
**Wake up.”**

**The last notes skip from her fingers. “Mhmmhm, Waaakke up…”**

**Relief floods Julie’s face in the echoes of her singing, as she traces the words her mom left on the page. _“Julie, you can do it.”_**

Luke’s pretty sure Julie can do anything.


	6. Double Trouble

While everyone is busy watching her perform, Julie watches Luke. Back when she sang _Wake Up_ , she hadn’t known the boys were there—and the times that she’d sung in front of Luke since, it had been together—where the same electricity racing through her was racing through him too and those moments of eye contact had just been a confirmation of it.

This… is different. He looks like he just discovered a new color that he didn’t know existed before. And even though people have told her she has a beautiful voice since she was mumbling along to the ABCs, Luke’s reaction makes her really _feel_ like she’s something special.

“Wow,” he whispers, turning to blink at her.

“Yeah, Julie, that was awesome,” Alex insists.

“I feel like you could totally summon birds and mice with that voice.”

She smiles. “I promise I’m not a Disney princess, Reggie, but thanks. All of you.”

“Now I’m really pumped to hear some of these new songs,” Luke exclaims, almost like he’s coming out of a daze.

“Well, we better continue the show then, shouldn’t we?”

**Julie is holding her mom’s words to her, wishing that it was her mom instead. Automatically, Alex reaches out to comfort her, only to be held back in the last moment by Luke. The three ghosts manage a silent argument behind Julie’s back—one Luke apparently wins when he gets Reggie and Alex to poof out with him.**

**They don’t go far—just outside the garage, where Luke instantly gets on his toes for another peek at Julie through the window.**

**“Dude, why’d you stop me?” Alex demands. “Julie needs a hug.”**

**“Bro, a ghost hug _isn’t_ the feel-good moment that you think it is.”**

Julie’s fingers unconsciously squeeze Luke’s at that.

He holds up their joined hands, “You said something about that earlier, but there was kind of a lot going on. Guess we can’t do this where you’re from, huh?”

She shakes her head. “For band circles, I tend to just—hover.” Frankly, as emotionally challenging as this night has been, the best part—and the part she’s having the hardest time adjusting to—is the fact that she can touch them. Luke’s fingers are warm in hers, except for where there is the cool metal of his rings, and there are a few callouses near the joints. These are all things she had imagined but hadn’t really _known_ about him before.

“I’m not sure how I would have reacted right then,” Julie admits, indicating the screen. “But later on, I would have done _anything_ for a hug from you guys.”

Reggie and Alex face each other.

And then, practically in the next second, she’s got two fairly heavy teenage boys on top of her. One of her arms is completely pinned under Alex, but she manages to wrap the other around Reggie, leather squeaking under her touch.

“Well now I feel left out,” Luke pouts, jumping on the couch in his sneakered feet and then piling on as well.

That’s the straw that breaks the camel’s back. “Can’t—breathe—” she manages to get out.

“We’re ghosts. You shouldn’t have to,” Alex says, but he does get off her.

However, instead of everyone going back to their original places, Luke slides over so that he’s now on the far end of the couch with Julie in the middle and Reggie and Alex on her other side. She sighs in contentment, leaning her cheek against Reggie’s shoulder.

**“Trust me,” Luke says, popping the non-existent collar of his jacket. “What Julie needs right now is just a bit of privacy.”**

**“You know what? I think you poofed us out because you can’t handle when other people cry,” Alex argues back, nearly poking Luke in the chest. “ _I_ should know. I cried in a room for 25 years and I didn’t get a single hug from _either_ of you.”**

****

“Look at that, we changed the future. Or the past. We changed something at least.”

She should probably be concerned about the possibilities of that, but—“What do you _mean_ you guys didn’t hug Alex?” Julie responds, shocked. “You guys are literally the most touchy-feely people I know.”

**Behind him, Reggie opens his arms invitingly. “Alright, bring it in.”**

**But just as he’s going in for the hug, Alex holds up his hand. “Don’t touch me!”**

****

“You were saying?” Reggie asks, voice heavy with irony.

“I was going through a lot. You could have given me a minute,” Alex huffs.

**“This is why no one hugs you,” Reggie mutters to himself, only not really.**

**But Luke, like usual, has a one-track mind. “So, I think the first thing we should do—once we get the courage to go in there—”**

Alex snorts. “You mean once _you_ got the courage to go in there. Reggie and I were fine.”

**“—is ask Julie why she lied about playing the piano.”**

Luke rubs the back of his neck—the part where his hair just starts to curl. “I’m sure I meant _after_ I told you what a killer voice you have.”

“Uh huh.”

**“Yeah, and, you know,” Alex gives a tiny shrug. “Maybe tell her how amazing she is?”**

**“Yeah,” Luke hedges. “Of course, Bro.”**

**Alex shakes his head, obviously not believing him.**

**“She’s _legit_ ,” Reggie pipes in, rolling up his sleeves in demonstration. “I’ve got ghost bumps.”**

“Urgh,” Luke groans. “Reg, you’re not gonna start sticking ‘ghost’ into everything, are you?”

“Why not? I’m getting into the spirit.” He waits for about half a second. “Spirit? You get it?”

“Well, _I_ think you’re killing it with the puns, Reggie.”

“Julie understands me.”

**Meanwhile, Flynn appears in the yard—clearly, a girl on a mission.**

**“My gosh, was she crying too?” Alex asks, eyes round as they follow her distressed path into the studio.**

**Luke bends his knees in emphasis. “ _Yes,_ ” he hisses. “And the only thing scarier than _one_ girl crying is _two_ girls crying.”**

Between this and his ‘girl stuff’ comment, Julie can’t help but wonder, “Did you have _no_ women in your life? At all?”

“He had his mom—” Reggie inserts helpfully before shrinking in his seat when he catches sight of his friend’s expression.

Luke attempts to play it off. “‘Course I hung around girls. Alex’s sister? _Huge_ crush on me.”

“I think what he’s _trying_ to say is that he’s been in the same room as girls before. He just _leaves_ those rooms if something uncomfortable comes up,” Alex explains, easily catching the pillow that Luke throws at his head and setting it beside him.

**“He’s right,” Alex concedes, looking even more overwhelmed than he did a minute ago.**

**“We can’t go in there,” Luke insists.**

**“But! We _can_ listen,” Reggie suggests before jogging back to the garage, practically smushing his face against the glass.**

**Luke and Alex each take their own pane and do the same.**

“Sorry,” Alex offers. “We shouldn’t be eavesdropping on your conversation with your friend.”

Julie gives him a _look._ “Don’t play that game with me, Alex. You might seem like the most innocent, but you’re _just_ as bad as these two.” She tilts her head in consideration, “Well, okay, you’re better than Luke.”

“What did I do?” The guitarist speaks up.

“ _A lot_ ,” Julie responds, and leaves it at that.

**“Carlos told me you’d be out here. We need to talk,” Flynn announces seriously, as she approaches Julie at the piano.**

**Julie glances up from where she’s stacking sheet music together, just as the boys duck out of sight. “Are you okay?” she asks the other girl carefully.**

**“No, I’m _not_ okay. You just got kicked out of _music!_ ”**

“With a voice like that? No way,” Luke insists, squaring his shoulders.

**“I’ve been up _all night_ thinking about what I was going to say. Might have drinken seven sodas but—I’ve got to get this out.”**

**“Wait—” Julie starts, but Flynn’s not having it.**

**“No. It’s _my_ turn to talk.”**

**Julie settles down into her seat to wait out the tornado that is her best friend.**

**“You _can’t_ give up music,” Flynn insists, a crack in her voice. “Your music is like a gift, so that would be a tragedy. So you’re basically like canceling Christmas. And I _love_ Christmas!”**

**“Flynn—"**

**“Nu uh. When we were six, we promised to be in a band together. Double Trouble!”**

“She sings?” Luke asks, interestedly.

“Yeah, but she’s more into music mixing and producing.”

**“I never agreed to that name,” Julie cuts in.**

**“That’s _not_ the point,” Flynn argues, coming further around the piano. Julie arranges her hands in her lap, patiently. “Jules! If you leave the music program, we’ll be apart for _ever_. That’s just what happens! Sure, we’ll see each other in the hall sometimes. But we’ll have different lives, make new friends—”**

**“That’s not _true,_ ” Julie tries to interrupt her again, but that just sets Flynn off on another tangent.**

**“You’re right. I won’t be making any new friends," she predicts dramatically. "And the only time we’ll contact each other is when we’ll be liking each other’s posts on Instagram. And every time I’ll be hitting that little heart, _my heart_ will be _breaking_ because my best friend _left me_ —” **

Reggie raises his hand. “What’s an Instagram?”

“Um, it’s sort of like Facebook.” Three blank expressions stare back at her. “Guess that was before your time, too….” She gives it a moment of thought. “It’s where people put photo albums on the internet for other people to look at and comment on.”

“Oo-kay…”

“I know it sounds weird, but modern technology is pretty cool—” An unconscious grin spreads across her face as a memory occurs to her. “Actually, there’s this thing called an Alexa. It’s a—robot—I guess and you talk to it and it can do stuff for you. Like turn off the lights or order things off the internet. And Reggie—” a giggle escapes her. “Was trying to use it, except it’s like a person. It can’t hear you guys unless we’re performing…”

“I don’t like where this is going,” Luke mutters.

“So, Reggie made Luke write a short song…”

“ _That’s_ where I thought it was going.”

“…asking Alexa to buy more toilet paper.”

“Okay, _that’s_ one I don’t need to hear,” Luke grumbles.

**She breaks off, clutching her head. “Do you have any soda? My head hurts.”**

**“Can I talk now?” Julie asks with amusement.**

**Flynn sighs. “Fine.”**

**“I just played the piano and sang again….”**

**“What?!” Flynn’s eyes light up. “Why didn’t you _say_ so?”**

**“I was _trying,_ but then your seven sodas kicked in.”**

“It’s a good thing she doesn’t drink coffee,” Luke mutters, only to receive an elbow in the gut from Julie.

“Be nice. You need to earn brownie points with her as it is.”

His brow comes crashing down. “What? Flynn doesn’t like me?”

Julie’s heart gives a panicked flutter. “What? No! I didn’t say that.”

Alex bends over to get in on the conversation. “You didn’t _not_ say it either.”

“More importantly, does she like _me_?” asks Reggie.

Julie takes the out the bassist offers. “Don’t worry, Reggie. Everyone likes you.”

“Yeah, still not feeling the love here,” Luke responds.

**“I’m so happy for you!” Flynn nearly yells. “And _me!!!_ ”**

****

**Julie gives a genuine chuckle.**

**“Look at you,” Flynn nudges Julie’s shoulder. “Looking all—I don’t know—alive again?!”**

**“I know,” Julie teases. “It’s like _I_ drank seven sodas.”**

****

**Flynn gives her friend an assessing once-over. “What made you play again?”**

**Julie’s glance once more falls on the piano. “I found this song my mom wrote me,” she says, sliding the pages over.**

“And you guys,” Julie breathes.

**“Woah,” Flynn murmurs, as her eyes read the first page.**

**“I know,” Julie sighs, elbow leaning against the instrument. “I was so afraid to play it. Anything involving music reminds me of her.”**

To be honest, though, _life_ reminded Julie of her mom. She had avoided the studio for nearly a year, but she still saw her in the throw blanket over the couch which they used to cuddle up under as a family on movie nights, in the clouds that she and her mother used to watch from the front porch swing, and in every sad smile her teachers gave her.

She really had been so lost in her grief that every happy thing had a little bit of pain in it—even though she knew it wasn’t what her mother wanted.

**“And then I woke up this morning, realizing that’s _why_ I should play it—to keep her memory alive.”**

The boys all seem lost in thought at that—and she winces internally, realizing that these versions of them don’t know about Bobby yet.

**“Aww, come here,” Flynn says, pulling Julie into a standing position and then into a hug—only to almost immediately push her away again. “O-oh! We need to tell Ms. Harrison that you can play again so you can stay in school and my life _won’t_ be that sad picture I just painted for you.”**

“You’d be kicked out of school? I thought it was just one class,” Luke questions, nose scrunched up in confusion—an expression that looks way cuter on him than it has any right to.

“She’s exaggerating a bit, but Los Feliz is partially a performing arts school. A lot of the kids sing, dance, act, play instruments—and they’re kind of separate from the ones who only take academic courses.”

**“My girl’s back!” Flynn thrills, lifting Julie’s hand into the air. “Double Trouble lives again!”**

**“ _Not_ our band name,” Julie reminds her.**

**“I gave you a T-shirt in the seventh grade that says otherwise.”**

“T-shirts aren’t always accurate, though,” Reggie points out. “Bobby once wore a shirt that said, ‘This is my Halloween costume.’ That _totally_ didn’t count."

**Julie grabs her backpack on the way out of the studio. Meanwhile, the guys all pretend like they weren’t listening—in Alex’s case, by checking on the nearby light. Reggie sits on the ground and Luke poses in a way to show off his arms.**

****

**“Oh, hey!” Julie greets when she sees them.**

“I’m really embarrassed I fell for that.”

**Flynn turns around curiously.**

**Julie, suddenly remembering herself, sweeps her arms in Flynn’s direction. “I mean, let’s hustle!” she says, jogging to catch up with her.** **And yet, she can’t stop herself from turning back to give the boys a wave.**

**“Don’t worry. We weren’t listening,” Reggie mentions, right before Luke kicks him in the side.**

****

**Luckily for them, Julie's too busy distracting Flynn from her weird behavior by pretending they’re being attacked by swarming bugs.**

Julie cringes. She has this problem where, when she does something awkward, she doubles down on it, thinking that will somehow make the first thing she did less weird. It doesn’t.

Although, watching how obvious she was also makes her grateful that she hadn’t kept the secret from Flynn longer—not that she had much choice. Life was so much easier once she knew—giving Julie someone to talk to about… everything.

**The girls leave and the guys phase into the studio.**

**“I wonder why Julie didn’t tell us she can shred on the piano,” Reggie reiterates.**

**“And sing! That girl can _sing!_ ”**

Not that Julie had any doubts—because her boys are some of the most genuine people in the world—but it is nice to hear they are as supportive of her behind closed doors as they are when she’s in front of them.

**“Probably had something to do with her mom,” Alex shrugs. “It must have been hard.”**

“So, what I’m getting here is that, even if you were eavesdropping, you guys suck at it,” Julie observes.

“We kinda get distracted sometimes,” Reggie admits.

**“I really feel for her,” Alex continues, eying the stairs leading to the loft before climbing them.**

**“But now she’s got _music_ back in her life,” Luke points out. “Just like us.”**

**Alex leans over the railing. “Yeah. I’m not sure you can call what we have a life.”**

“Way to look at the positives, Alex.”

**A garbage bag catches the drummer’s attention, and he rifles through it quickly. “Oh hey! Some of the clothes that we left behind are still up here.”**

**He drops two bundles down.**

**“Sweet!” Luke exclaims, stripping off his jacket.**

Julie’s eyes grow large. _This isn’t going to show…._

**His shirt comes off next.**

****

Oh, okay, apparently it was.

And wow… Luke is… something.

“Uhhh, not that I’m self-conscious or anything, but is there a _reason_ the TV keeps repeating this part over and over?”

Julie tries to avoid Luke’s eyes, which turns out to be a mistake because she just ends up meeting Alex’s instead.

“Another glitch, I guess,” Alex says to the group, but that’s not the message his look is sending to her.

She takes a deep breath and—luckily—the show starts running again like normal.

Although… **on-screen Reggie doesn’t seem like he minds the view either.**

**One half of the garage door opens and Ray steps in. Alex notices him, but not before he walks through Reggie. “Woah, that was weird…." He pauses inconsideration. "But, somehow, I can tell—this man has a kind heart.”**

****

“Huh,” Julie says, biting her lip.

“What’s up?” Luke asks.

“Oh, I’m just wondering if that’s just Reggie being Reggie—assuming the best out of everyone—or if you really get a sense of someone when they walk through you. I mean, you’ve passed through me a couple of times. Alex’s walked through Carrie….”

“I’ll add it to the list of questions,” Alex announces, not sounding entirely happy about it.

**“So how have you been?” Ray asks the empty studio, lifting his camera to about waist-height to take a picture.**

Julie puts a hand to her mouth. “Is he…?”

**“Honestly not that good,” Reggie seems like he’s just been _waiting_ to vent. “See, we ate these hotdogs and—”**

**“Julie sang for the first time this morning,” Ray interrupts. “She hadn’t done that in almost a year. You would’ve loved it.”**

**“Yeah, we saw—'cause we were—” he gestures outside, but then understanding seems to dawn on him. “Oh, oh! I get it.” He waves his hands in front of Ray’s face before looking towards Luke. “He—he’s not talking to us.”**

**“You are so lucky you can play bass,” Luke tells him.**

“Ow!” Luke mutters, rubbing the place on his thigh where Julie pinched him.

**“I’m pretty sure he’s talking to Julie’s mom,” Alex clarifies.**

**“She’s such an extraordinary young woman,” Ray continues, voice getting choked up a little. “Every day, she reminds me more and more of you.”** **He lifts his camera. “Oh—I’m taking pictures for the real estate website.” He twists the lens in his hands. “I don’t really want to move but—I guess it’s what’s best for Julie.”**

Julie feels her heart squeeze—wondering where her _papi_ is now, if he’s noticed her missing yet. He doesn’t deserve to lose any more people he loves.

**All three boys have now congregated back around the piano.**

**“Move?” Luke repeats, eyes starting to get watery.**

**Ray sits down on the bench seat.**

**“So many memories—of Julie playing next to you. And Carlos, trying to sing with his missing two front teeth.”**

**Luke’s upper body is being supported by the piano now, face half-hidden behind his hand.**

**“Oh Luke, not you too,” Reggie begs, clearly feeling lost in the moment himself.**

**Luke just shakes his head—seeming incapable of speaking.**

Julie looks to either side of her. Both boys seem almost as moved as they do on the TV screen. “It’s just—nice—” Luke chokes out, in answer to her silent question. “When parents really try to get where their kids are coming from.”

“When they pay attention to what their kids aren’t saying,” Reggie adds in a quiet voice.

As if her dad's speech wasn't bittersweet enough.

Still, she’s glad that this show isn’t just following her around. It’s filling her in on what she missed with the band, helping her understand them better.

**“He’s talking about moving, but the poor guy—he doesn’t want to move,” Luke stumbles over his words.**

**Ray gets up to take another photo—this time with his camera aimed directly at the three ghosts. “It’s like—they grew up out here.”**

**“Oh man,” Reggie sputters, cheeks turning red with the effort to hold tears back.**

**“Okay, how am _I_ the emotional one?” Alex wonders out-loud.**

****

“There’s more than one emotion in the world, meaning there’s more than one way to be emotion- _al_ ,” Julie has to mention.

**“Can-can we go see my family and see how they’re doing?” Reggie asks the others.**

_They visited Reggie’s family?_ Julie thinks, feeling like she just stepped into a puddle she didn’t know was there until her socks were soaked.

**“Yeah,” Alex agrees, gesturing towards Julie’s dad. “Yeah, listening to this feels… wrong.”**

**A grin crosses Ray’s face. “And do you remember when the kids were at your sister’s—and we came out here on our anniversary—”**

“No, _nonononono_ —” Julie shouts, plugging her ears. “ _Not_ something I needed to know about my—” But her brain’s already jumped a few places on the tracks. “He doesn’t mean on the piano...?—Nope, nope, still not thinking about it.”

**Luke shoots back up to his full height. “No, yeah, _definitely_ wrong,” he exclaims, before poofing out.**

“What are you guys doing?” Julie yells at the TV versions of Alex and Reggie. “Follow him! Before I hear _anything_ more.”

**/////**

**It’s a relief for all of them when the show switches scenes to the school. However, it’s not exactly happy news. Ms. Harrison is informing Julie that her spot has already been assigned to another student.**

“And they can’t put another chair in the classroom or what?” Luke argues with the screen. “Have you seen her? She’s _tiny_ —it’s not like she’ll take up much room.”

“Hey, I’ve 5’5”!” she protests.

“I didn’t mean that like it’s a bad thing—and your voice can fill up _ten_ classrooms. What I’m _saying_ is that it’s a stupid rule.”

 **“I did everything I could to keep you here this year,” the teacher insists. “But Principal Lessa was very clear—that yesterday was your last chance. You have to reapply next semester.** **I’m truly sorry,” she adds, just as the bell rings, and students start filtering in.**

**Flynn wraps a consoling arm around Julie’s shoulders as they leave the room together.**

“They can’t do that!” Luke is up on his feet in an instant, pacing the area between the couch and the coffee table. “And you shouldn’t _let_ them do that!” he says, pointing an accusing finger at her. “You need to—”

But Julie drags him back down by the hand. “This is my past, remember? You’ve already given me the speech. _And_ helped me get back into the music program.”

“Oh,” Luke remarks, deflating like a balloon, but with a small smile on his face. “That’s—that’s good.”

A completely disproportionate shiver runs down her spine as he brushes his thumb along her wrist.


	7. This Band Is Back

Reggie can’t help but feel jittery as **the camera pans over a familiar beach.** That rollercoaster-like drop in his stomach does not get better when **it swings over to show himself, Alex, and Luke staring into the distance, looking on in disbelief.** It’s almost the same look they have whenever they catch sight of the ridiculously long line outside the women’s bathroom at concerts.

**“A bike shack. _Right_ where my house used to be,” he says, dully.**

**“Yeah, I’m sorry, Man,” Luke rumbles, patting the bassist’s shoulder.**

**“They made the Meyerson’s house into a noodle shop,” he gestures to the sign advertising ramen, still with almost no animation in his tone. “Why couldn’t they have made mine like—a pizzeria or something?”**

Reggie doesn't even know _how_ to ride a bike. He _had_ one when he was younger—bright red and chrome—that he got as a present for his sixth birthday. But every time he glanced in its direction, his mom had told him that now wasn't the time to get grass stains or that he should wait for his dad to take him. Meanwhile, his dad ended up pulling his back doing a roofing job. It made it almost impossible for him to bend over. A few weeks later, he’d been reassigned to a desk job he hated. And by then, it just… didn’t seem important anymore.

**“They tore down the whole neighborhood,” Alex counters.**

**“Guess my folks are gone,” Reggie mutters, crossing his arms over his chest.**

**“Everyone’s gone. 25 years— _gone_ —” Alex piles on.**

“You guys made sure I knew that Luke was going through a lot,” Julie speaks into the sudden quiet. “But you didn’t mention that you—” she swallows. “Of _course_ , you would be missing your families.” She gazes at Reggie with warm, brown eyes. That shouldn’t be particularly significant. _Most people have brown eyes,_ he thinks. But Alex doesn’t, Luke doesn’t—his parents didn’t. None of the people who ever had a reason to look at him with that much concern on their face ever had. Just Julie. “I don’t know if this will help or not, but uh, that Facebook thing I talked about earlier—makes it easier to look up people. If— _when_ —we get out of here, I could help you find your parents.”

Reggie clears his throat. "Yeah, Julie, I'd like that."

She turns to Alex to include him in that too.

"I'll think about it but—thank you," the drummer murmurs.

**“Friends, family—”**

“Hold on a second," Luke pauses the TV again in record time. "What was that part you said about me?” he asks Julie.

“Later,” she promises him.

He pouts. “I think I’m gonna get tired of that word _real_ fast.”

**_"Bobby_ —everyone—"**

**“Bobby, that’s right!," Reggie exclaims. "Guess that vegetarian lucked out—”**

“Dude, he _wasn’t_ a vegetarian,” Luke groans, annoyed.

“Oh, yeah…”

**“What do you think happened to him?” Reggie asks Alex.**

**However, Luke’s the one that answers. “He probably just got old like everyone else—and moved on.”**

Julie holds up both hands. “Okay, I’ve _got_ to know. What is the deal with you guys and Bobby? In your time, I mean. Because he was a part of your band, but—you’re not acting like it really. I _refuse_ to believe that if Alex were the one that had stayed behind, it would have taken you guys this long to bring him up.”

The three of them exchange glances.

Eventually, Alex speaks up. “We care about Bobby. But, uh, it’s kind of the opposite of what you talked about with Carrie. Enemies to friends instead of the other way around. The three of us have all been friends since we were kids—and then, we formed _Sunset Curve_ when we were 14. We met Bobby the year after. His band— _The Loose Cannons_ —always used to wind up at the same places as us, competing for tips in the subway or on the pier. He and Luke _especially_ didn’t get along at first.”

“Yeah. Because he was an asshole.”

“Anyway…” Alex continues, giving Luke a pointed look. “Bobby’s band broke up after a while. And Luke got into this—funk. Me and Reg didn’t know what was going on. He just kept getting frustrated whenever he was composing. Finally, we got it out of him that he’s a masochist—who _liked_ having Bobby’s band to compete against because every time they did something interesting, it pushed him to be better. So he ended up approaching Bobby at the cafeteria at school, basically asking him to make fun of a new song he wrote.

“Long story short, a few weeks later, Bobby was one of us. And we mean that. He was our bandmate and our brother. It’s just—a more complicated relationship.”

Julie opens her mouth, as if to say something else. However, after a few moments with no sound coming out, she just closes it again and nods.

**“Dude, how are you so casual about all of this?” Alex interrogates Luke. “I mean—don’t you want to figure out what happened?”**

**Luke, who’d been sitting on a piece of driftwood, scoffs. “Let’s be real for a second. It’s not like any of us were _that_ close to our families. My folks always regretted buying me that guitar.”**

Julie seems sad but unsurprised.

**“Reggie—your parents were literally a fight away from a divorce.”**

_That_ seems to catch her more off-guard.

Although, Luke’s kind of missing the point. The fact that they kept on threatening to divorce each other was never the problem. It was the fact that they never went through with it. From the age of six onward, he just had to watch them grow further and further apart—eventually dividing the house into two war camps basically. Mom in the master bedroom, Dad sleeping on the couch in the den. Mom’s side of the house always clean but cluttered with knickknacks—Dad’s side minimalist and tidy but smelling like dust and mothballs….

**“Alex—I—” Luke’s voice cracks with how frustrated he is. “Your parents were never cool again after they found out you were gay.”**

**Both his and Reggie’s gazes drop to the sand.**

“Okay, this definitely calls for another group hug,” Julie announces, getting to her feet, dragging Reggie and Luke up with her. Alex gets up quickly too. Turns out that the whole hug thing works a lot easier this way.

The TV starts up again, but they don’t let go.

**“Okay, none of us had it great,” Alex admits. “But at least we had _something_ …. What do we have now?” He cuts off the answer he can already see on Luke’s lips. “And before you say ‘cool teleportation skills’, just know that I’m not _entirely_ okay with that either." **

****

**"It tingles. In _weird_ places,” he specifies.**

“Also something I didn’t need to hear,” Julie mutters, looking at the screen over her shoulder.

“Yeah, dude. You might want to be a _little_ more obvious about it. I mean, there’s probably one or two people on the _other end of the beach_ who didn’t get what you’re implying,” Luke says, sarcastically.

“Wait!" Reggie's lost. "What is Alex talking about?”

**“I’ll tell you what we have,” Luke’s voice is fierce as he stands upright again, hopping onto the driftwood to use it like a pedestal. “It’s what we’ve had since the day we came together.” He spreads his arms. “Boys—we have _us_. Okay? We’re the only family that we’re ever gonna need.”**

****

“Plus Julie,” Reggie adds, squeezing her tight.

“Plus Julie,” Luke agrees.

**“You know what else we have?” he asks, sounding exactly like a football coach.**

**“I’m gonna guess—death breath?” Reggie suggests, hands stuffed deep into his pockets.**

**A smile splits Luke’s face. “Our music. You dork,” he says fondly. “We have our _music_ , you guys. People— _actual_ people—can hear us play. They can’t see us—fine—”**

“Except _apparently_ they can,” Alex inserts.

“Lucky for them. We’re too handsome to be invisible _all_ the time,” Luke teases.

**“—but they can _feel_ us. If I had my guitar, I’d play for all these people right now. Just like we used to do down at the pier.”**

**Alex rests back on his heels. “Yeah, they can’t tip what they can’t see.”**

“You’re a ghost, Bro. What were you planning on buying?”

**“It’s not about the _tips,_ Alex,” Luke insists, stalking up to him. “It’s about— _playing—music_. Connecting with people. Making a difference in their day.” He taps Alex’s heart, and the drummer flashes a reluctant smile.**

“I hate to admit it, but you’re right,” the drummer tells Luke. “You really hold us together, you know that?”

“Aww, Alex. You’re going to make me blush.”

**“I—I just wish I had my guitar,” Luke exclaims.**

**At almost the same moment, his acoustic appears, strapped across his chest—arriving with enough force to whip him around in a circle.**

“Wait! What now?!” Alex shouts, breaking their circle to stare at the TV.

“Did I not mention you could do that…?” Julie asks.

“Yes! Super powers!” Reggie thrills.

**“Woah!” Reggie breathes, staring down at the instrument. “Woah, that was rad. How did you do that?”**

**“I don’t know. I-I-I-I-I mean, I wished for it. And then it came.”**

**Reggie bends his knees and holds out his hands, almost as if he were praying. “I wish I had a puppy!” He cracks his eyes open—no dog. “A hamster?” he tries next.**

****

“You really like animals, don’t you?” Julie chuckles.

“Julie, only serial killers don’t like animals.”

“I don’t know how scientific that is—but, if you wanted, you could probably visit an animal shelter someday, hang out with the puppies there. It’s not like anyone could stop you.”

But Reggie has another idea. “I could poof on top of an elephant!”

“Or—or that—”

“I’m sorry, but can we get back to our newly discovered ghost powers, please?” Alex requests.

**“Pizza?” Reggie asks, a little less hopefully. When that, too, fails to appear, he kicks at the sand before flopping down to the ground.**

"Yeah, sorry. I've only ever seen you be able to summon your instruments," Julie mentions.

"At the very least, it's convenient," Alex grumbles. "Transporting drums is always a pain in the a—" he glances at Reggie. "Butt. I meant 'butt.'"

**“Hey, I think I know something that will cheer you up,” Luke gives a lopsided smile—before he starts strumming.**

**Alex walks closer to the music, and Luke’s smile grows a fraction wider.**

**Alex licks his lips, turning back to their other friend. “Come on, Reginald,” he persuades, joining in by tapping a beat out on his chest and upper thighs.**

**Reggie’s trying to maintain his frown—but Alex's really getting into it now—and Luke’s eyebrows are jumping up and down in time to his voice, calling out “A one, two, three, four—”**

**“Can you—can you hear me?” Reggie shouts, clambering to get up from the sand.**

**“Loud and clear,” Alex speak-sings.**

**“We gotta get—we gotta get ready—” Reggie uses the piece of driftwood as a surfboard.**

**“‘Cause it’s been years,” Luke adds in, emphatically.**

****

**“Woa-oh-oh-oh,” Reggie’s voice starts low and goes high, as he races to a nearby tree and circles it like it’s a maypole. “This band is back!”**

**“Woah-oh-oh-oh,” all three of them repeat, and in the distance, you can see the group gathered by the volleyball net begin to move with the song. “This band is—back!”**

“Are you guys—making up an entire song. As you go?” Julie asks, incredulously.

“I guess we are,” Luke says with a self-satisfied grin. “A pretty catchy one, too, if I say so myself. If I had my guitar here, I’d totally—”

There’s a flash of light and suddenly Luke’s acoustic is leaning against the coffee table.

Reggie feels his eyes widen.

On screen, it still seemed like an effect, but when it happens right in front of him, it’s just—well, “Woah!” doesn’t even cut it. _I wish for a puppy,_ he echoes himself—but only inside his head this time.

Nothing.

 _My bass,_ Reggie tries again.

Still nada.

Meanwhile, Alex is pacing. “How is that possible?!” he wonders. “We’re—I don’t even think we’re on _Earth_ right now.”

“Luke, are you— _smelling_ your guitar?” Julie chimes in.

“Why wouldn’t I?—it’s the best smell in the world!”

Reggie’s bass hadn’t had a smell really—unless it was the faint, lingering odor of seedy, smoke-filled clubs they’d played. But it had felt sleek to the touch and, sometimes, he’d wake up with one arm out, the other folded on top of his stomach—his muscles remembering what it was like to be on stage. Like his bike, his bass, too, was cherry red and—

A second flash of light and suddenly, he feels exactly 9.58 pounds heavier.

“Reggie!” Luke switches gears in the middle of his sentence. “You did it! Awesome, Dude!”

Alex throws up his hands. “How did I somehow fall behind in ghost classes?” he asks the room.

“Don’t know. But let me savor it for a second,” Luke jokes.

**“Whoo, ooh, ooh, ooh—”**

In the void, Luke picks up the tune and starts strumming along.

**“Whoo, ooh, ooh, ooOH!—**

It doesn’t have a bass part, but Reggie adds one in now.

**“Whoo, ooh, ooh, ooh—”**

Alex joins along drumming with his other self.

**“Can you—**

**(Yes, we can)**

**Can you hear me?**

**(Loud and clear!)**

**We gotta get—**

**(Wanna get)**

**Gotta get ready!**

**(‘Cause it’s been years!)**

**Whoo, ooh, ooh, ooh!”**

“C’mon Julie—” Luke manages between “oohs.”

**“This band is back!”**

All seven of them sing, Julie jumping up and down along with the rest of them.

**“Whoo, ooh, ooh, ooh—  
This band is—back!”**

**On the beach, couples start dancing, people strolling by start humming to themselves.**

**“Whoo, ooh, ooh, ooh…”**

**A guy explains to his date that the sound is probably coming from invisible speakers.**

**“Whoo, ooh, ooh, ooh…”**

**“Whoo, ooh, ooh, OOH!” they repeat, until Alex turns the song into a scat—and the boys disappear into the distance.**

There were only dancing around for a minute or so, but somehow, Julie, Reggie, Alex, and Luke are all breathless as they smile at each other, something building in the air around them like a storm.

And even though Reggie agrees with what Alex said earlier—that Bobby was a part of the group— _this_ —right here, right now—feels _right_. It feels like _destiny_.

Somewhat reluctantly, they all head back to the couch, their instruments lovingly placed on the coffee table in front of them.

/////

The TV switches scenes and suddenly, **the boys are in Julie’s room—Luke stepping onto a small stool to have a staring contest with a box on Julie’s shelf. Alex’s attention is on a picture frame sitting on the dresser—but when he tries to pick it up, his hands just go through it. Reggie is making lazy snow angels on the bed.**

****

**And, of course, that’s when Julie walks in. Immediately, her whole body language changes. “What are you guys doing in my room?!” In sync like always, they all turn as one to face her.**

“Uh—we were looking for the kitchen?” Luke suggests.

Julie’s face spasms. “Why do you love that particular lie so much? This was _Bobby’s house_. You know where the kitchen is! Heck, you _saw_ the kitchen the day before when you invited yourself to dinner!”

**“Uh—”**

**“Oh—uh” Alex and Reggie harmonize.**

**“We were looking for the kitchen?” Luke suggests nervously.**

“Well, it sounds stupid when he says it,” Luke murmurs.

**“This—” Julie points between all of them. “Thiiiis,” she reemphasizes. “Can’t happen. It’s creepy.”**

“You guys had only been back from the dead for two days—and you have the power to go literally anywhere. I still don’t understand why you weren’t—sightseeing in Japan or something—instead of _snooping through my stuff_.”

“Guess you’re more interesting than Japan,” Luke shrugs.

“I—” she cuts herself off as she fully processes what Luke just said. He flashes her a shy smile that causes her cheeks to flush. “I—” she begins again, before seeming to gather herself, “—am not falling for that.”

**“Get off my bed, please,” she directs at Reggie.**

**“Hey, Julie!” Luke raises his hand. “What’s in the box?” he points to the one he’s talking about—the wood painted white before flowers were drawn over it.**

****

**“That’s off limits!” she tells him.**

**“Oh—okay. Girl stuff,” he says to the other guys, voice going high-pitched.**

****

**“Oooh,” Reggie responds, in sudden understanding. “Like butterflies and glitter?”**

“As you can tell, Reggie doesn’t spend much time around actual girls either,” Alex inserts.

**“Oh, come on,” Alex mutters, more to himself than his friends. “I’m sorry about them—” he tells Julie, whose arms are now crossed.**

**“It’s none of your business,” she insists. A pause. “And yes, there might be _some_ glitter.”**

**Reggie gives a self-satisfied smirk.**

_Ha! Take that Alex!_ He knew _plenty_ about girls.

**Despite apologizing for his bandmates, Alex makes another attempt to pick up the photo. “Heeey,” he cheers when he succeeds. “I actually picked something up—” he declares, only to immediately drop it—onto the bed, luckily.**

“I’ve got to give you guys credit. Your eavesdropping skills suck, but somehow, you managed to instantly go for two of the most important things in my room. I’m honestly surprised Reggie wasn’t magically drawn to my mom’s trunk with the Sunset Curve shirt in it.”

**“Is that your mom?” Luke asks, coming over to look at the picture and causing the screen to pan over the image as well.**

“Aww, little Julie’s so cute,” Luke teases.

“Thanks. But if you mean that sarcastically, I should point out that I’ve seen a picture of you at two, wearing a slice of pie as a hat—.”

“How—would you—have—” Luke sputters.

**“Yes, and it’s my _favorite_ picture of us,” she informs them, snatching it back. “So if you break it, I’ll break _you._ ”**

“Other you always seems so much scarier than You you,” Reggie murmurs.

“We still weren’t quite friends yet,” Julie reminds him. “Plus, you were breaking and entering.”

**“Sorry—because we’re _kind of_ unbreakable at this point,” offers Alex.**

**Julie sets the photo down on her nightstand. “I don’t get it,” she admits, pacing towards the other end of the room. “You can mess up my bed, pick up your instruments—but you can’t pick up other stuff…?”**

**“I know, right? It’s hard. But for some reason—our instruments…” Luke shrugs. “Easy.”**

**“Like _super_ easy,” Reggie agrees. “Oh, and look at what I learned today!” he adds, raising his arms. His bass falls from about two feet in the air above his waiting hands.**

**Turns out, it falls a little too hard—causing Reggie to wind up flat on his back on top of Julie’s ottoman.**

**Julie does not seem impressed. “Yeah. That looked _super_ easy,” she says, sarcastically, while Reggie continues to groan.**

**“But it’s like I always thought—” Luke butts in, excited. “Our instruments are attached to our souls.”**

“That would mean we could summon other stuff that we have personal connections to," Alex observes. "If Luke's theory is true, that is. Technically-speaking, we do poof with our clothes—and we all know Luke has a ridiculous attachment to his cutoffs. Maybe Reggie's shirt didn't travel with him that one time because he doesn't care about it as much?”

Julie hmms. “That makes sense to me.”

Luke closes his eyes.

And then, with a smaller burst of light—more like a camera flash this time—his writing notebook lies on top of his guitar.

“Guess it works,” he shrugs, but his voice sounds a little choked up.

**“Hey!” Ray suddenly shows up in the doorway. Reggie somehow manages a backward somersault—**

“Look it! I’m a ninja!”

**—while Alex and Luke automatically grab for each other’s hands. They drop them as soon as they notice.**

****

“What’s the story there?” Julie asks, jerking her chin toward the screen.

Luke smooths his jeans down over his legs. “Well… Han Solo was too busy being everyone else’s gay awakening, so I filled in as Alex’s.”

“That’s not—He’s—” Alex sputters, then takes a breath. “We tried dating once. A while ago. And it turned out to be weird, so we stopped.” He drops his head to make sure that Julie meets his gaze before lifting it again. “Trust me, I don’t have feelings for him anymore. And he _definitely_ doesn’t have feelings for me.”

“Yeah. Ew,” Luke responds.

“Okay, no need to go that far.”

**“Everything okay?” Julie’s dad asks.**

**“Yeah,” Julie responds, trying for cool. “I’m fine.”**

**“I thought I heard you talking to someone.”**

**“Nope, uh—must have been my laptop. Which I just closed.”**

“That was calm, collected. Definite improvement,” Luke compliments.

“Such a bad influence,” Julie remarks.

**“Okay—well if you need anything…” Ray points in the direction of his room.**

**“Yeah, thanks,” Julie tells him, as he closes her door on the way out.**

**As soon as he’s gone, she’s rubbing her temples, trying to relieve her approaching headache.**

**“Your dad seems like the kind of guy who likes to barbeque,” Reggie observes. “I bet he has a great ribs recipe.”**

“I mean, papi doesn’t really cook much. He’s best at breakfast.”

**“I don’t know,” Julie clearly sounds stressed. “But if you guys want to talk to me, we have to do it in the studio. He’s worried enough about me as it is.”**

**“He seems chill—you should just tell him about us.”**

“Would that have worked with _any_ of your parents?” Julie interrogates the three of them. “Yeah, I didn’t think so."

**“You’re kidding, right?”**

**The smile slowly disappears from Luke’s face, like a dimming lightbulb.**

**“This past year, everyone’s been watching over me. Being super nice as if they’re waiting for me to snap. If I tell my dad I met a ghost band, I’ll be back to talking to Dr. Turner three days a week.”**

**“Yeah, you probably shouldn’t tell him,” he concedes, hopping up on the stool again. “Julie—”**

**“Oh my gosh! I thought I told you to leave that alone!”**

“Even _I_ don’t get what my deal is. It’s just a box, right? Why am I so fixated on it?” Luke asks.

**“I know. You just should have said _nothing_ —because now I can’t stop thinking about it, so—” he gestures helplessly. “What’s in the box, Julie?”**

**“It’s just my dream box, okay?”**

**Luke’s forehead furrows in confusion.**

**“Whenever I get a thought or something, I write it down to get it out of my mind.”**

**“Like lyrics?”**

“Oh, see, _now_ it makes sense—”

“Luke’s got a sixth sense for anything music related,” Alex says with an eyeroll.

**“They would be if I still wrote music. Like I used to with my mom. Now, it’s just—full of stuff that doesn’t make me sad.”**

**The two of them make eye contact for just a moment, a secret, unknowable understanding there.**

**“But I mean, you _do_ play—” Alex interrupts. “We heard you this morning.”**

**“In the _garage_?” Julie questions, the soft edge that had been in her voice replaced with something much sharper. Luke hits Alex on the shoulder. “So you were there too…?”**

**“Uh—"**

**“Oh—uh,” Alex and Reggie compete for who can sound the most suspicious again. But Luke’s got a slightly different method for getting out of trouble.**

**Laying across her bed on his stomach, he looks up at Julie through his eyelashes. “So, where _is_ your kitchen, by the way?” he asks with a flirty smile.**

**“Okay,” Julie says back in the same tone of voice, leaning down to his eye level. Luke’s smile grows wider, but also softer.**

****

_Huh,_ Reggie thinks. _Interesting._

**“We need to set some boundaries.” She stands up, pointing, “For starters—get out of my room!”**

**Luke hops off the bed immediately, kicking one of her pillows in the process, followed by Alex, and then Reggie, playing his bass lightly as he goes.**

**Julie gives a sigh of relief, once again examining the picture of her mom.**

**She’s just about to put it back in its rightful place—when Alex sticks his head back in, through the door.**

“Ugh, I don’t like looking at myself cut in half. It’s too much like taxidermy.”

**“Hey!” he calls. “I didn’t mean to bother you. But—did you get back into your music program?”**

“You’re so thoughtful,” Reggie tells Alex.

Luke reaches around Julie to smack him on the head. “Dude, he’s making us look bad.”

**“No, Julie confesses, staring at her shoes. “No, I didn’t.”**

**His hands grip the doorframe a little tighter. “I’m sorry. That—really sucks.”**

**“Thanks.”**

**Alex heaves a sigh.**

**Julie waits.**

**“Is that it?”**

**“Yeah, yeah…. This is—getting weird,” he says.**

**And yet, it takes about 30 seconds of Julie waving before he finally leaves.**

**/////**

**Downstairs, Carlos is playing videogames on his tablet. Julie’s dad is over at the computer. “Whatcha working on?” Julie asks as she comes down the stairs, trying to reassure him that things are as normal as possible.**

**“Well… now that the house is on the market, we need to add some photos to the website. Help me pick some good ones.” She crosses the room, lifting Carlos’ sneakered feet as she passes by so that they’re no longer on the couch.**

**“These are really nice,” she tells her dad sincerely, as he flips through photos of the living room, dining room, and kitchen.**

**“You think so?” he hums, pleased.**

**Then, he gets to photos of the studio. “These—didn’t turn out so well though.”**

“Wait—are those glowing things—us?” Luke asks, wrinkling his nose like he just smelled something bad.

“Considering you three were standing by the piano while my dad took pictures, I think you already know the answer to that.” She nudges Luke’s shoulder, “Hey, what’s wrong?”

“It’s just—I figured we wouldn’t show up at all. It’s almost weirder that we did, but we don’t—look like people.”

**“There’s these little lights—dots all over the place,” he continues, flipping through some more pictures.**

**Carlos pops up over the edge of the couch, intrigued. “I’ve seen some freaky stuff about orbs on Youtube,” he declares. “People say they’re ghosts.”**

“Wasn’t he _just_ making fun of you for thinking you saw a ghost the day before?” Alex comments.

“I mean, that’s kind of the ‘annoying’ part in ‘annoying little brother.’”

**“Think that’s mom and she made some friends?” he asks.**

**Ray gives a small chuckle, “That’s a nice thought, but—there’s no such thing as ghosts.”**

“Ray, I’m disappointed in you,” Reggie sighs. “People are always telling kids that they’ll know better when they grow up. Sometimes, adults need to—grow down. Open their minds to the possibilities again.”

**“Sounds like someone’s been spending too much time on the internet,” Julie is quick to back him up.**

“Julie—” Reggie protests.

“Do you really want people to find out ghosts exist? As you’ve said—you guys have super powers. What if someone wants to—study you or something?”

Reggie gives it some thought. “You’re right. That _is_ how people become supervillains.”

**“You can just trash those,” she tells her father.**

**“Alright, trash, trash, trash, trash—”**

**“Uh, Dad,” Julie says, interrupting his narration. “I was thinking—if we’re just moving because of me—and you and Carlos want to stay—I’m fine with that.”**

**“I vote we stay!” Carlos yells, almost before she has the sentence out.**

“Me too!” Reggie throws up his hand, followed shortly thereafter by Luke.

Alex just shakes his head.

“What?” Reggie protests. “I don’t want to go anywhere either.”

“You’re ghosts. And most people can’t see you,” Julie reminds him. “Nothing could really stop you from staying anywhere.”

“Yeah, but—” Reggie hesitates, but only for a second. “You’re our friend—and our future bandmate. I don’t know if we’d want to be there without you.”

“Reggie…” Julie murmurs.

**“I don’t want to have to clean under my bed,” Carlos confesses.**

“Ooh, good call,” Luke comments.

**“Noted,” Ray says, but his attention’s clearly on Julie. “What made you have second thoughts?”**

**“I don’t know. I guess—a combination of things…?” She leans back against the couch.**

"I think she likes us," Luke jokes.

**“I know that _tia_ says that moving is moving on, but—I don’t think that’s the answer.”**

**“I totally agree with you on that,” Ray says, standing up from the desk chair. “I mean, I think—I think moving on has to come from the inside.” A light comes into his eyes. “And one of us took a huge step this morning…”**

**Julie acknowledges the compliment by ducking her head. “All of our memories of mom are here. And we should be too. Can we stay…?” she asks, like she doesn’t already know the answer.**

**Ray raises his hand to shoulder height. “All votes are in,” he shouts, a smile rapidly growing on his face that makes him look ten years younger. “Yes!!!” he says, bringing his daughter into his chest for a hug, “ _Yes, yes,_ thank you.” **

**A second later, he gets Carlos to join them. “Big, tight group hug.”**

****

“Ooh, I bet he gives great hugs,” Reggie mentions. “After all, Julie gives great hugs—and that’s probably genetic, right?”

**“Okay, someone help me find my phone. I need to call the real estate agent—” Ray’s busy patting his pockets.**

**Carlos points. “I think I saw it in the kitchen.”**

**“Kitchen?” he holds his hand out to Julie who sighs, leading him in the right direction by the arm.**

“Wait up. Your dad _lives_ there—and still wanted a guide to the kitchen,” Luke protests. “Looking back, it was a perfectly reasonable question!”

**The camera doesn’t follow them, however—it follows Carlos, who’s getting on their dad’s abandoned computer.**

“What is he up to?” Julie questions dangerously, leaning toward the screen.

**Swiftly, he recovers the trashed pictures of the studio. “Ghosts,” he whispers, leaning back in satisfaction.**


	8. Bright

“No wonder Carlos got that ghost hunting app after this,” Julie mutters under her breath.

“An app…?” Alex questions.

“It’s another technology thing.” Julie waves her hand dismissively, but that doesn't actually make him feel better.

It makes him feels like his _dad_ , who insisted on listening to everything on cassette tape because CDs were just too modern for him. And it’s not only technology stuff that will have progressed from 1995 to 2020—there’s also language, pop culture.... He’s going to be 17 forever and an old man at the same time.

Abruptly, Julie let outs out a yawn.

“Tired?” Luke asks quietly.

“Mm-yeah. It’s been a long night.”

“Maybe you should think about getting some sleep soon,” Luke murmurs, and suddenly Alex feels several thoughts crashing together like his cymbals. The next moment, he’s standing in front of Julie, grabbing for her arm and circling her wrist with his hand.

“What the hell, Alex?” Luke demands, shifting forward protectively.

But Alex is more interested in the steady, even thrumming under her skin.

“Julie, you’re _tired,_ ” Alex explains. “We’re not. You also have a pulse.”

Her forehead furrows for a second, and then her mouth opens, “Oh. You think I’m alive still.”

“I mean, you could sound more thrilled about it.”

“ _Trust me_ , I am,” she responds, with more conviction this time. “There’s just—been a lot of changes to adjust to for one evening.”

Well, he can totally understand that.

“I wonder how I’m here then,” she thinks out-loud.

“Out of body experience, maybe? That’s… ghost adjacent, right?” Alex offers. Of course, there’s no actual way to tell.

“You want to take a break or keep going?” Luke questions her after a minute, watching Julie with even more concern now—as if being alive in the void puts her in greater danger. Alex supposes it might.

But, instead, a smile creeps back on her face. “We should keep going for a little bit. There's a song coming up that I want to see your reaction to.”

Luke’s eyes light up at the word ‘song’ the way a dog’s do when it hears ‘treat’ and Alex has to stop himself from snickering. “Let’s do this then!”

There must be a time jump because **the Molina house is now dark. And Luke is staring mournfully into the refrigerator, breathing in heavily.**

****

“Looks like you found the kitchen,” Reggie points out helpfully. “Also, are those cupcakes?”

“Yeah. Dad sometimes gives couples discounts on wedding photos and they tend to reward him with leftover baked goods.”

“That’s awesome! But, like, where does he put it all? Your dad’s pretty fit.”

Julie rolls her eyes. “At least you didn’t use the word ‘firm’ this time.”

**Meanwhile, Julie’s making her way downstairs. As she rounds the corner, she catches sight of Luke and nearly jumps out of her skin.**

**“I’m _never_ gonna get used to that,” she says, once she’s composed herself some.**

"Did you?" Luke wants to know.

"Nope."

**She walks closer to peer over Luke’s shoulder. “Do you guys even eat?” she questions, as Luke shakes his head.**

**“I just want to see what you got,” he answers wistfully.**

**Julie sighs, grabbing a few ingredients, and then closing the door _through_ Luke’s body.**

****

“Rude,” Luke tells her, folding his arms over his chest and pretending to be offended.

**“Hey!” Luke protests. “You know how long it took me to open that?”**

“Why bother?” Julie asks. “Couldn’t you have just stepped _into_ the refrigerator if you wanted?”

“I mean, I want those cupcakes in my stomach. I don’t want them sitting on a shelf in the middle of my chest,” Luke exclaims.

Julie winces. “Point taken.”

**“Sorry," Julie says, not sounding sorry at all. “I don’t believe in wasting power.” And with that, she begins assembling a peanut butter sandwich.**

**“Good,” Luke announces, tone changing abruptly. “Because that’s _exactly_ what I wanted to talk to you about.”**

“So did you _know_ that she was going to be coming down for a midnight snack or were you looking for her _in_ the fridge…?” Reggie questions.

“I’m sure I was just… working up to it.”

**“Our power usage?” Julie asks skeptically.**

**“No,” Luke scoffs. “The power that _you_ have.”**

**Julie gives him a flat look, but Luke is having none of it. “Your _voice_. Your _piano playing_. Dude, you’re like a human wrecking ball.”**

****

Julie’s eyes smile at the screen. “Okay, just this once, Luke—you get to be the favorite,” she jokes.

**“Is this a pep talk?” the Other Julie asks, much less flattered apparently.**

**“What I’m saying is that you have the power to _move_ people—to knock them off their feet. And there’s _no way_ your teachers wouldn’t let you back into school if they heard you play like that,” he insists, almost with a chuckle as if the very idea is laughable to him.**

“Luke telling people to stay in school is weird,” Reggie points out, causing Alex to give an involuntary snort.

“It’s—” Luke starts.

“ _Music,_ ” the three of them say with him.

“It’s—”

“ _Different._ ”

The guitarist scans the group with a scowl on his face.

“Sorry, Dude, we just know you really well,” Reggie says.

“Oh yeah, what am I thinking of right now?”

“Still music,” Alex and Julie insist.

“I don’t know—” Reggie puts his fingers to his temples in concentration. “For some reason, I’m seeing a horse—on a beach—at sunset.”

Luke blinks at him. “No, Man…. Just…no.”

**Julie digs her knife into the peanut butter. “I asked her,” she reminds him. “And she said that I have to wait until next semester.”**

**Luke makes a disgusted noise. “That was your first mistake— _asking_ ,” he tells her, jumping up onto the kitchen counter nearest the window, the chains on his pants rattling against the sink. “Sunset Curve booked gigs by _doing_. We went into ambush mode. Yo, we played in _front_ of clubs, we played in _back_ of clubs, we even played _book_ clubs.”**

“Dude, I’m totally right,” Luke asserts, expression exactly the same as that of his other self.

“One more time—I got _back_ into my music program!” Julie exclaims, voice equally annoyed and affectionate. “You don’t have to keep trying to convince me!”

**“ _Book_ clubs?” Julie asks, the “Really?” unspoken but implied. But she’s looking at Luke again.**

**“Yeah,” Luke concedes, with a sideways twist of his mouth. “We didn’t get many gigs out of that one. But they did have some gnarly snacks.”**

“Plus, Eustace and I became pretty good friends,” Reggie adds cheerfully. “She taught me how to needlepoint.”

**Julie goes back to assembling her sandwich.**

**“I’m just saying—” he speaks down toward the floor. “ _Don’t_ ask for permission.”**

**It’s only a half second later that he decides to get Julie’s attention another way—by kicking his legs in the air about a foot away from her face. “ _Swing_ that wrecking ball of talent of yours at your teachers’ heads—"**

****

**"—and _smash_ those stupid rules right out of their brains.”**

Alex raises his eyebrows at Luke. “Getting a little excited, are we?”

“Hey, if it gets my point across….”

**“This isn’t a club,” Julie informs him. “It’s a school. And your plan sounds violent.”**

****

“It _sounds_ like knowing what you want out of life and fighting for it.”

Alex rolls his eyes. “I feel like Luke and Luke need some alone time. Anyone else getting that sense?”

**“It’s a closed door,” Luke says—before shoving his face through the cabinet that Julie’s attempting to rifle through. “And you’ve got to bust it open.”**

****

“Okay… Never do that again,” Alex emphasizes with a shudder.

**Surprisingly, Julie takes _that_ in stride—ignoring Luke to head back to the refrigerator.**

**“Sorry,” Luke says, chasing after her. “Once I get started with the metaphors, I can’t stop.” He leans over her shoulder as she looks into the fridge in a reversal of their position earlier. “I learned _that_ in book club.”**

**Julie shuts the door. “They’re not just gonna—” but she cuts herself off, as she realizes she just walked _through_ Luke.**

****

“So, Reggie said it felt like an Etch-a-Sketch or whatever. What’s it feel like from the Other Side?” Alex wonders out-loud.

“I guess… like taking the car through a car wash,” Julie answers eventually. “I don’t know if it’s so much a feeling as a—projection of a feeling.”

**“—let me back in,” she finishes, lamely.**

**By contrast, the smile Luke gives her is almost dopey, and he huffs a small breath.**

“Oh, he _definitely_ felt you just then,” Reggie states.

Alex smacks him on the head.

“I didn’t mean—It’s like Julie was saying earlier about getting a sense of the people we walk through. Just—look at him!”

**He hurries to catch up to Julie again. “If getting back into music is what you want,” he says, voice soft, slightly towering over her, “then you gotta _go_ for it.”**

**This time, when Julie goes back to working on her sandwich, she doesn’t break eye contact.**

**“Learn from me,” he begs her. “Your tainted hotdog— _could be right around the corner_ ,” he whispers his warning, just as she’s about to take a bite.**

****

**She eyes the sandwich—sets it down.**

“No, Julie—” Reggie exclaims. “Luke, look what you made her do!”

**“I don’t even have anything prepared,” she sighs at last.**

“Couldn’t you just use ‘Wake Up’?” Reggie asks.

**“I thought you’d say that,” Luke says, immediately, pulling a folded piece of notebook paper out of his pocket.**

****

“Or… Luke could give you a song.” Reggie whips around to face Luke, “You _gave_ her a _song_?”

The guitarist shrugs.

Reggie leans into Alex. “I once sang one line of our unreleased stuff to a girl at school and Luke _flipped_.”

“Yeah, well, he’s always worried someone’s gonna steal it.”

“But—”

“It’s _Julie,_ ” Alex points out.

**“It’s called Bright.”**

“This the reason why you picked that song to sing earlier?” Luke asks, watching the TV with a curious expression on his face.

“It might be,” Julie answers, noncommittally.

**“It’s a Sunset Curve song that I wrote that we never got to record—but it’s _perfect_ for your range, and—just check out the chords for a second. If you just added a little bit of piano, I’m _telling_ you….**

Apparently, he didn’t just _give_ her a song. He altered it for her some, too.

**Julie’s eyes automatically fly over the page. Meanwhile, Luke starts singing, “We’ll rise—through the night—you and I—we will fight... to shine together!”**

**“Bright forever!” he continues, eyes rapt on the side of her face as Julie flips the paper over to continue reading.**

**“And rise—” he starts again, only this time, Julie joins in.**

****

**“Through the night—you and I—we will fight to shine together— _Then go up high_!” he instructs, raising to his tiptoes to further make his point. **

**“Bright fore-ev-er!!!”**

And yeah… the two of them harmonizing is somehow better than either of them alone, which is kind of ridiculous considering how good they both are normally.

**Julie wrinkles her nose as she smiles, eyes sparkling—and when the camera cuts to Luke, it’s with a bold smile on his face, which transitions smoothly into a chuckle.**

“Do I sense chemistry?” Reggie whispers almost directly into Alex's ear.

**“Thanks,” Julie says, tapping the notebook paper against the counter.**

**Their eyes lock again.**

**Luke bites his lip, speechless for once.**

****

**But it doesn’t matter—because they seem to be having a silent conversation anyway.**

****

“That’s 100% a moment,” Reggie exclaims, much more loudly than he did a second ago.

“What? No, it's—it’s not,” Luke splutters.

“Oh, it _is_ ,” Alex insists just as loudly, before hitting Reggie again. “But we're not supposed to say that out loud.”

“Why not?”

“Because of that—” the drummer says, pointing to where Luke has turned an interesting beet color and Julie’s hiding half her face behind her hair, even though it’s clear that she’s still watching the screen attentively.

Luke makes more indistinguishable noises.

/////

Luckily, he’s saved by the bell. **Or in this case, a trumpet. Flynn’s trumpet—which she is not playing very well—while sitting in the middle of the empty music room.**

****

**It must be the next morning.**

**A second later, Julie stalks her way in—wearing camo** and some pretty cool pink shoes, if Alex does say so himself.

**“What are you doing?” Julie asks. “And where is everyone?”**

**Flynn rests the instrument in her lap. “Spirit assembly. I was kinda blowing it off,” she admits, indicating her trumpet.**

“Haha, ‘blowing’—get it?” Reggie says, delighted.

“Yeah, Reg, we _all_ got it.”

**Julie lets out a defeated breath.**

**“You okay?” Flynn asks, uncrossing her legs and sitting up more.**

**“Not really,” Julie sighs. “I had this new plan to play for Ms. Harrison, hoping that she’d let me back in—but—I guess I missed my chance.”**

“Jules—you gotta stop talking about missing chances. You gotta _make_ your own chances,” Luke exclaims, halfway out of his seat again.

**“No, you didn’t—” Flynn argues, leading her friend towards the sound of pop music.**

“Thank you,” Luke huffs.

**The music gets louder. Suddenly, five girls are on the stage—each dressed entirely in a different color. Carrie is in the middle in pink.**

_She’s got style,_ he’ll give her that.

Even Luke shifts forward, interested.

**“See ‘em look, hear ‘em ‘ooh, ah,’  
Hands up—throw back, boo yah.”**

**The screen pans to Nick and his friends cheering.**

**“We’re the best,” the group sings, flipping their hair—or wigs. “No doubt.”**

**“Check it out, yeah, we make ‘em say ‘wow.’”**

****

“Okay, I gotta point out that half of that is not words,” Luke announces.

“So, they don’t have your lyrical genius,” Alex answers sarcastically. “It’s still pretty catchy.”

**“Made moves,” Carrie bops, pushing at the shoulders of the two dancers closest to her as she works her way closer to the audience. “On the rise now.”**

**“Run stuff,  
Get a piece of that pie now.” The group mimics a boxing stance.  
We’re the best, no doubt.  
Check it out, yeah, we make ‘em say ‘wow.’”**

“You make ‘em say ‘not half bad.’” Luke corrects.

**Flynn and Julie enter the gymnasium. “Look who spent all her money on costumes and Katy Perry’s choreographer,” Flynn comments, crossing her arms over her chest.**

**Julie’s hands are in her pockets. “Well, it paid off,” she says, looking slightly worried. Meanwhile, Carrie’s being lifted in the air by two of the other girls—orange and yellow.**

**“Yeah, we’re going sky high,  
never gonna settle  
Living in the fast lane,  
pedal to the metal.”**

**“We see it, we want it,  
we get it, we got it….  
Everybody lose control….” They roll the words and their hips at the same time.**

“Her voice is nicer like this—not when she’s doing that fake high-pitched stuff,” Luke observes.

“Now who’s being a traitor?” Alex asks, remembering what Luke had said when Julie mentioned that Other Him liked Carrie’s music.

He actually manages to look offended. “I mean, I’m not saying she has _Julie’s_ voice. I’m pretty sure _nothing_ compares to that.”

Alex would accuse him of trying to be smooth, except he can tell that Luke just genuinely means it.

**“We came to play. Where you at?” the group marches backwards in time with each other but each stops at different places to form a diagonal line.**

**“We’re going hard, just like that.  
Yeah, we da bomb. Chain react.  
Blow their minds and watch them—”**

**All five girls gasp as one.**

**“See ‘em look, hear ‘em ‘ooh, ahh,’  
Hands up—throw back, boo yah.”**

**However, the rest of the chorus gets lost as Alex, Luke, and Reggie all appear beside Julie. The bassist is still in his ripped black jeans and white shirt, but he’s wearing his flannel for now. Meanwhile, both Alex and Luke have changed completely.**

“Alex, we might have to do something about the pulled-up socks over the pants,” Julie tells him. “It’s kinda 90s.”

“So am I!” he protests. “And you got nothing to say about yet-another sleeveless Luke shirt? Or the beanie?”

Julie coughs, blushing a little. _Of course._ “Orange looks… kinda good on him,” she mutters, not meeting anyone’s eyes.

**“What are you guys doing here?” Julie says in a loud whisper—that somehow Flynn does not notice.**

“More than that, how’d you _find_ me?” Julie wants to know.

“Uh…” Luke says, scratching the back of his head. “Maybe we… looked up your school somehow?”

“But you poofed exactly to where I was. Even if you knew the school address, how did you find _me?_ ”

“We must have been able to sense you—somehow,” Alex realizes.

“I don’t know whether to find that comforting or creepy.”

But Alex’s mind is already whirling. “If we can do that, we should be able to sense our families too, right?” He almost immediately shakes his head. “Maybe not. We already know you’re the exception to a lot of ghost rules.”

“ _Again,_ I don’t know if that’s flattering or creepy.”

**“We wanted to see you stick it to the man. Isn’t that right, boys?” Luke grins, enthusiastically.**

**However, Reggie’s eyes are locked on the performance. “Man, I miss high school,” he breathes, eying the dancing girls.**

“My dad’s gonna be so disappointed,” Julie teases.

**“Made moves,” the group sings, doing high knees. “On the rise now—” Arms up, then each of the girls spins one at a time to create a flurry of colors.**

****

**“Run stuff, get a piece of that pie now.”**

**“We’re the best. No doubt, shake it out—”**

“Oh, pirouettes, nice,” Alex accidentally says out loud.

**“Yeah, we make ‘em say ‘wow’.”**

**Then, they’re doing a floor routine.**

**“Come, follow me, we’re gonna make history,” Carrie sings up to the ceiling while the other four girls lay down, framing her.**

“Uh…” Luke questions. “I mean, this looks cool with the camera angle and all—but what is the audience seeing? Pretty much only Carrie, right, and the rest of the girls looking like dead bodies? She’s not even making eye contact with the crowd.”

**“‘Cause we are the champions, like Freddie Mercury.”  
They all rise to their knees.**

**“Yeah, we gonna rock you,  
Never gonna not do,  
Always making headlines, yeah, we the hot news.”**

“Do they write their own songs?” Luke wonders, as **they climb to their feet to run through the chorus again.** Alex gets a glimpse of their jackets **—which read “Dirty Candy” on the back.**

Julie tilts her head to the side. “I can’t be sure, but I’d assume so. Back when we were friends, Carrie used to write her own songs.”

**“Wo-o-o-o-o-ow,” their voices pulse, as they turn to the side, drawing their arms up over their head. The beat gets stronger.**

Alex feels an almost irresistible urge to join in but stops himself by shoving his hands into his hoodie pocket.

**His on-screen self is too caught up in the moment.**

**“Wo-o-o-ow,” they sing and Alex copies.**

****

**Except he bumps Luke in the process, who quickly tells him to cut it out.**

**“Wo-o-o-o-o-ow,  
Shake it out--  
yeah, we make ‘em say ‘wow.’”**

_Ooh, nice power pose at the end._

**The audience claps, and a self-satisfied look crosses Carrie’s face.**

**“Thank you, thank you,” she says, voice instantly bouncing up an octave.**

****

**“Make sure to check out my new Youtube video!” And then with a call of “Go Bobcats!” she and her friends leave center stage, their walks a bit _too_ exaggerated.**

**“Thank you, Dirty Candy,” a woman that must be the principal speaks into a mike. Next to her is Ms. Harrison.**

**“There’s your chance,” Flynn says, almost giddy. “Go talk to her. I’ll see you in music class.” And then she skips away, like it’s that easy.**

**“Yeah, what are you waiting for?” Reggie picks up Flynn’s point. “Now’s your time!”**

**Only Julie’s face has gone pale.**

“Have any of you guys ever been nervous—ever?” she grumbles.

“Of parent-teacher conferences? Mystery meat in the cafeteria? _Clowns?_ Absolutely,” Reggie says. “Of performing—not so much.”

“I used to,” Alex confesses. “But Luke drags you out on stage enough times—and people _don’t_ throw tomatoes at you—you get over it.”

**“You look really nervous,” Alex observes. “Like, yak-in-a-bowl-nervous.”**

"There's that soft touch again, am I right?" Reggie asks.

**Instinctively, Julie catches Luke’s eyes. “I just don’t think I had enough time to work on the song,” she tells him.**

**Luke presses his weight into his heels. “I wouldn’t have given you the song if I didn’t think you were going to _rock_ it,” he says, every bit as confident as she is anxious.**

Whatever Julie says, based on the way her on-screen self is looking at Luke—and the way the Julie with them on the couch is, too—Alex is pretty sure that the guitarist has _always_ been her favorite.

**“Now, there’s a piano on that stage with your name on it,” Luke tells her, pointing. And then he steps out of her way so she can get to it. And that—his absolute belief in her—seems to be what gets her feet moving in the right direction.**

****

**Within a minute, the principal is finishing up her announcements, the crowd is dispersing, and Julie’s taking a reluctant seat in front of the the keyboard.**

“This is gonna be amazing!” Luke cheers, **just as Julie sits down, starts playing the first few notes.**

**She stops. Uncertain.**

**“You _got_ this!” Luke shouts up at her from the gym floor.**

****

**She starts again, glancing back at the three ghosts with every few presses of the keys.**

**“Sometimes I think—I’m falling down,  
I want to cry—I’m calling out…”**

“Thanks, Dude!” Luke calls out to **the random lighting guy who puts a spotlight on Julie.**

**“For one more try—to feel alive…”**

**Out in the gym, Luke’s mouthing the words along with her.**

And if ‘Now or Never’ seemed like foreshadowing, this song also seems eerily appropriate. Both Julie and the band coming back to life after a long time in the darkness.

**“And when I feel, lost and alone,  
I know that I, can make it home…”**

**The leaving crowd begins to halt in their tracks, to turn back around.**

**“Fight through the da-rk  
And find the sp-ark.  
Life is a risk, but I will take it,” she sings, really getting into the song now.  
“Close my eyes and jump.” She moves her shoulders slightly with the music.  
“Together I think that we can make it….”**

Alex glances at his friends beside him. Yeah, he’d buy that.

**“Come on, let’s ru-u-un…!”**

**“And rise!” she near shouts, but there’s surprise in the sound, because suddenly she’s not alone.**

****

**There’s Reggie, grooving on his bass, Luke tilting his chin up in satisfaction, and Alex—hair flopping in time with his pounding on the drums.**

**Instantly, she’s up and moving toward them, “—Through the night, you and I—"**

“Woah, wait, wait, wait,” Luke yells, running over to sit right in front of the screen. “You didn’t say this was our first time performing _together_.”

“Surprise!”

“Dude, move—” Alex gripes. “You’re blocking the view.”

“But—”

“Yeah, the pouting doesn’t work on me. Scooch.”

**“We will fight—to shine together! Bright forever!”**

It’s a good thing that the crowd can see them, Alex thinks. **Because there _is_ a crowd now** **and Julie’s not doing the best job at pretending that she’s not looking at _someone_ —multiple someones.**

**“And rise—through the night!  
You and I—” **

**Apparently, Julie’s catching onto the fact that her invisible band isn’t actually so—the blissful expression on her face changing to one of confusion. Because those are _definitely_ girls looking in Luke’s direction. Nick’s also definitely pointing at something past her shoulder—most likely Reggie.**

**“We will fight—to shine together—"**

**And speaking of Reggie… he’s noticing something’s up too if the way he whips his head from side to side is any indication.**

****

**“Bright for-e-e-ver!!!”**

**And now Luke's seeing their reaction as well.**

**“Uh, is this really happening?” Julie mouths to the guitarist.**

****

**“Just go with it,” he insists, heading for where there’s a freestanding mike.**

As happy as Alex is for himself in this moment, he’s honestly happier for Luke. He loves music, but if he had to, he could live without it. Luke can’t. That passion—that drive—it’s who Luke is. It’s hard to imagine the world spinning on its axis quite as quickly without Luke's energy helping it out some.

**“In times that I—doubted myself,” Luke sings to new cheers.**

**“I felt like I—needed some help. Stuck in my head—”**

****

**“—with nothing le-e-e-ft!”**

“It’s our first time rocking out, Reggie!” Julie interrupts, as **the screen cuts to her on-screen self jumping around with the bassist, before returning to Luke.**

"First of many, I hope," Reggie grins.

**"I feel something—around me now,**   
**So unclear—lifting me out,**   
**I found the ground—I'm marching o-o-on."**

**Reggie hops one-legged over to Luke's side of the stage—for the first time in 25 years and Luke's fire is contagious.**

**"Life is a risk but we will take it,  
Close my eyes and jump—"**

"You do that growl so well," Julie murmurs—apparently unintentionally if the look on her face afterwards is anything to go by.

Luke just flashes her a cocky half-smile.

**For her part, Julie's pumping up the crowd.**

****

**"Together, I think that we can make it,**   
**Come on, let's r-u-u-un!!!"**

**And suddenly, Alex's drums make a thunderous reappearance—and it's Julie and Luke singing together.**

**"And rise—through the night,**   
**You and I—we will fight**   
**To shine toge-eth-ther!**   
**Bright fore-e-ver!"**

**Reggie goes to jam on the drum platform with Alex.**

**"And rise—" he jumps back down again on the beat.**

****   
**"Through the night—**   
**You and I—**   
**We will fight**   
**To shine toge-eth-ther!**   
**Bright fore-e-ver!!!!"**

"Jules, your high notes really are _insane,_ " Luke whispers with awe.

**"The times that I—doubted myself—" Luke sings, bringing the song back down again.**

"He's right," Alex concedes, "but honestly, what's kinda blowing my mind right now is—Julie, you planned on singing this solo, right? In fact, _none_ of us planned for _any_ of this, but you somehow know what parts to take over and which to let Luke do. For the three of us, I mean—we can do impromptu performances pretty easily after all these years, but this, here, has only been three days for you?"

"I—I don't know. I mean, we've had our share of misunderstandings, but never on-stage. We just—get each other. It's honestly one of the best feelings in the world."

"Hell, yeah, it is—" Luke cheers.

**A look of purpose seems to come over Julie's face—and then she's striding across the stage to Luke's side, holding her mike up for him to use.**

**"I feel like I—needed some help,**   
**Stuck in my head—"**

And wow, the tension in the room just shot up.

"If you guys are that intense through a TV, I can't imagine what it's like live—" Reggie says, going so far as to fan his face.

"I mean, uh—" Ultimately, Luke seems to decide it's best not to say anything—or maybe he's just caught up in the performance. The two of them _are_ kinda magnetic.

**"With nothing l-e-eft," Luke's voice teases, tilting his head in silent instruction to Julie.**

**Like they've done it a thousand times before, Julie puts her back to Luke's chest, taking over the bridge as he plays the guitar just as throatily as he was singing.**

And just like that, Alex knows whatever's going on with them—or _has_ gone on with them—or _will_ go on with them (tenses are confusing right now)—it's not a passing crush—something here today, gone tomorrow. There's such a balance between them—Luke pushes and she pulls. That kind of connection—well, he always hoped that it was something that existed outside of books and TV shows, and they _have_ it—even if they don't fully understand it yet.

**Other Him doesn't have as great a view of them—and has probably got lots of other things on his mind, what with playing the drums as a ghost before a seeing crowd—but he definitely knows something is up, too, if that smile is anything to go by.**

**_Reggie's_ attention is obviously elsewhere, as he gives the purple Dirty Candy member a wink.**

"Ooh, who's that?" he asks eagerly.

"Her name's Kayla."

"She seems into me."

"She _seems_ like she doesn't know you're dead," Alex points out.

**"Fight through the d-a-ark—" Julie belts before turning around and walking through Luke on purpose this time.**

"Seems like someone _likes_ going through the car wash, apparently."

"Reggie?"

"Yeah."

"Shut up."

**"And find the spa-a-a-ark!!!" Julie sings and then she just keeps holding the note out, long and loud, as the rest of them each pick a different line to sing on different beats in a pretty sick round that has the crowd even more hyped.**

**"Shine together—" ("Shine together")**

**"Bright forever—" (Bright forever")**

**"And rise" ("Through the night") "You and I" ("We will fight")**

**"To shine together!"**

**"Bright fore-e-e-ver!!!" They all finish as one, Julie's arm up in the air in triumph, breathing heavily.**

**Everyone in the gym is pumped... with the notable exception of Carrie, who looks like she was just punched in the face. Even Mrs. Harrison smiles a pleased grin at their little stunt.**

**And then,** ( _Again,_ with the amazing synchronicity, Alex thinks) **the four of them all bow.**

**It's a perfect ending.**

**Until all the phantoms disappear, and the crowd lets out a gasp.**

**Julie chuckles nervously into the sudden quiet.**

"What did you end up telling them?" Alex questions, wondering why he hadn't thought of this problem before.

"Uh, that you guys are from Sweden and are projecting yourself in using holograms." She pauses a moment, "Holograms are—"

"We know what holograms are," he assures her. "We've seen the Jetsons—and Star Trek."

"Oh, they made a reboot of that! Well, lots of reboots."

And oh, God, he can practically hear Reggie complaining about that already, but luckily, Luke interrupts **—** "That was—so rad! Do you guys even _know_ how rad that was?"

"Uh, yes, we just saw it."

"Yeah, but we talked through part of it and **—"**

"Half of that was you!" Alex reminds the guitarist.

"Can we just—watch it again? We can do that, right...? Does this thing rewind?"

Alex, Reggie, and Julie all look at each other, none of them having the heart to deny Luke when he's this excited.

Besides, it's not like any of _them_ would mind a repeat either.


	9. Lying

After their fifth time in a row of watching _Bright_ , Julie’s yawns start to really get out of control. “Hey,” Luke whispers, feeling a bit guilty that he wasn’t paying better attention. “I think it’s time for you to knock out for a bit.”

“But—” she starts, only to cut her own sentence off with another yawn.

“But nothing,” he tells her, rising and poking Reggie in the shoulder so that the bassist gets off the couch, too. “Sleep.”

“Where will you guys go then—if I’m taking the sofa?” she asks.

“I could use some stretching, honestly,” he tells her. “Or we can sit on the floor. It's not a big deal.”

She bites her lip, still obviously conflicted. “I’m scared of what will happen if I go to sleep,” she finally admits.

Oh. That makes sense.

He finds himself looking around as if a solution will magically appear to him. It sort of does. He gestures to his acoustic. “Would playing something help?”

She fiddles with where her shirt is knotted—“Probably.”

“Then lean back, close your eyes.” And considering how stubborn she is, she listens to him pretty easily this time.

Because it’s still on his mind, he starts playing _Bright_ —but a softer version, one that's more melodic. A smile creeps onto her face, softening her expression—but while she seems happy, she doesn’t appear to be closer to sleep.

So he slows it down further—turns it into soft, rainfall notes—until her breathing starts to even out and her face becomes slack. “Jules,” he whispers just to check, but she only sighs, turning her cheek to the upholstery.

Carefully, _carefully,_ he sets down the guitar.

He’s about to go over to where the guys are hovering and whispering conspiratorially behind the TV. But then one more idea occurs to him. He thinks about his flannel jacket for a minute—kinda orange and oversized, he used to wear it a lot on camping trips when his parents just wanted to get out of the city some—back when his family could actually do stuff together without it turning into a massive fight. When he opens his eyes, it’s there, bundled up in his arms.

Slowly, he settles the jacket over Julie’s sleeping form, pleased to see the way she automatically snuggles under it.

 _Now,_ he can let her rest.

“So pretty crazy night, huh?” he says by way of greeting to Alex and Reggie. They seem very quiet in comparison to a few minutes ago, which instantly puts him on alert. “Whatcha guys talking about?”

“Not you!” Reggie responds.

Luke’s surprised an “I’m lying” neon sign doesn’t start flashing over his head. “Let’s try that again, Pinocchio.”

“Well—can you blame us?” Reggie answers, throwing his hands up in exasperation in a way that doesn't just encompass the guitarist, but the rest of the room as well. “You two are adorable. Like _baby penguins_ adorable.”

“Who? What?”

Alex gives him a dead look.

Nervous energy floods through his veins but he tries to ignore it. “Me and Jules?" he asks. "Come on, guys. I know you were teasing earlier but we’re not—” Luke stops abruptly as he realizes he has no idea how to finish that sentence.

“Look, I know that we’ve technically only known her for a few hours—and it usually takes you weeks, plus several songwriting sessions, for you to even _begin_ processing complex emotions,” the drummer says over Luke's protests. “So if you say you don’t have a crush on her, I won’t even argue with you.”

“ _Thank you_ —” Luke begins.

“But,” Alex’s face grows serious. “Julie’s in a different place than we are. She’s lived through a lot more with us than we have with her. So, if you consider how close we all feel towards her after two hours, imagine how much _stronger_ that bond must be after days, weeks, maybe months. You don’t think that _maybe_ Other You might have developed a thing for her in that time…?”

“I don't—how would _I_ know?” he finally stammers. “I—I hit on her _mom_ , Man.”

“Yeah. And, as you pointed out, she was way more upset about you doing it than Reggie.” Alex sighs. “All I’m saying is, if there’s even a _possibility_ that when she’s from, you guys have something going on, then—be careful, okay? Us not recognizing her was obviously hard—and if the show keeps going in that direction and you play it off or act defensive—it might really hurt her feelings.”

“And since I’ve named myself Julie’s honorary big brother,” Reggie announces. “That means you and I would have issues.”

Luke’s face feels like it’s a million degrees, but he manages to roll his eyes anyway. “Dude, you’re about as threatening as a teddy bear.”

“Hey, teddy bears can be a choking hazard for children under the age of 2.”

“Never mind then. You’re _super_ frightening.”

Reggie smiles, pleased.

“Can the world’s most awkward conversation in the world be over now?” Luke begs.

“As long as you promise to think about what I said,” Alex concedes.

Luke grumbles a not-so-polite response under his breath. “Just wait until the tables are turned, Dude. I’m never going to let you live it down.”

“First off, we can’t live anything down. We’re ghosts,” Alex says, as literal as always. “Second, we’re _dead,_ ” he repeats. “Meaning my chances of finding someone to date have gone way down.”

"Well, with that attitude...."

Reggie runs his fingers through his hair. “I’m not going to let being a ghost stop me from finding love.”

“Oh, trust us, _we know_ ,” Luke responds, but there's a smile in the sound.

A quiet lull settles over the group.

“So, what do we do while we wait for her to wake up?” Luke asks at last.

“Don’t know,” Alex says. “Anyone have any deep, personal attachments to some board games that they could summon to our endless void?”

/////

As it turns out, Luke's able to conjure up his childhood version of Monopoly from his parents’ house.

“How are you so good at this powers stuff?” Reggie asks, as he picks up a Community Chest card. “Aw, man,” he says after reading “Go directly to jail. Do not pass go. Do not collect $200.” Both Alex and Reggie can pop their instruments in and out of existence by now, but that’s it.

Luke shrugs, unwilling to admit that caring too much about things has never really been a problem for him. And when you run away from home, it’s amazing how much you miss the stuff you left behind—giving everything a kind of symbolism it wouldn’t have otherwise.

A whimper draws his attention, and he turns to see Julie tossing and turning on the couch.

“No… Luke!” she shrieks in her sleep.

He’s at her side in a few seconds, but not before she can get out two other whimpers. “Alex…! Reggie…!”

“Hey, hey, hey,” he soothes, brushing his hand over her forehead and into her hair. “Jules, it’s okay. I’m here, we’re here.”

Her eyes open as if they’re spring-loaded, and the second she catches sight of him, she’s sitting up, pulling him near her in a hug that smells a bit like strawberries. And even if he might be confused about what kind of relationship they actually have, he knows without a doubt that this girl in his arms is one of those things he cares a hell of a lot about.

“What is it?” he asks, when her shaking has become only a slight shiver here and there.

“Caleb,” she murmurs, leaning back to wipe her eyes. He glances over his shoulder at Alex and Reggie, silently asking, “How could we forget about _that_?” Whoever this evil ghost is, he obviously freaks Julie out even more than she let on earlier.

“I think I slept enough for now,” Julie murmurs—and he figures they have to take her word for it since he has no clue how long it's been. “Do you think… maybe we can watch some more of the show...get my mind off things?”

“Sure, Jules—anything you want.”

“You said something like that to me before,” she tells him with the attempts of a smile, but the hands gripping his T-shirt only get tighter. And yes, okay, there’s _possibly_ a world out there where whatever memory she’s thinking of isn’t the most platonic moment ever. But that’s for consideration later.

Instead, he shouts to the guys, “You want to get over here? Watch some stuff?”, then fits himself against Julie’s right side, arm over the back of the couch to slightly frame her shoulders. Alex takes Julie’s left side this time instead of Reggie.

“Ready when you are, TV,” Luke mutters.

**The show starts up with Julie still gazing awkwardly over the confused crowd. “Hey,” the lighting guy asks, “Where’d the rest of the band go?”**

**“Wait, were those holograms?” Kayla asks from the crowd. Carrie does _not_ seem pleased with her friend.**

“Eh, if you want to pretend to date Grape Dirty Candy, she doesn’t seem like the _worst_ choice,” Luke tells Reggie, unconsciously playing with some of the strands of Julie’s hair that hang over the couch back.

“I know, right?” Reggie says, definitely surpassing Luke’s level of excitement.

**Julie seizes on the suggestion instantly. “Yes! Yes, they were. Holograms. Um, I plugged it into the ceiling projector before the show. I’d explain it but it involves algorithms and science stuff…”**

“Good addition of detail. Could still work on delivery.”

“Luke?”

“Hmm?”

“Stop giving me lying lessons.”

At least, if she’s able to be annoyed at him, she’s feeling better.

**The crowd begins a second round of clapping, Ms. Harrison and Nick the most prominent members of the cheering audience.**

_I’m guessing your girlfriend isn’t gonna like that, Buddy,_ Luke thinks in Nick's direction.

**The camera then pans over to the phantoms, off to the left of the gym.**

**“That’s wild—that they could see us when we’re playing, but not when the music ended,” Luke tells his boys.**

**“We should double-check!” Reggie insists, clomping back up the steps onto the stage—then flaunting his butt for the audience.**

****

“Glad I missed this the first time,” Julie mumbles.

“Meanwhile, _I_ have to go through it twice, apparently,” Alex remarks.

**“Yeah… I don’t—I don’t think they can see us,” Reggie declares, rejoining his friends.**

**“I wish I couldn’t see you,” Alex tells him, flatly.**

Alex adjusts the backwards cap on his head. “I have to say, I’m liking me in this.”

**“Okay, people,” Principal Lessa shouts, clapping her hands in front of her. “Show’s over. Time to get back to class, please.”**

**Reluctantly, the crowd starts heading for the exit.**

**“Hi, hey there…. I’m Reggie,” the bassist tells Kayla, walking her to the doors, even as Carrie is berating her. “Can I call you sometime? What’s your number?”**

“You realize that _you_ don’t even have a number anymore, don't you?” Alex comments.

“Maybe, I could write her a note,” Reggie thinks out loud.

**Meanwhile, Julie’s teacher is approaching.**

**“Ms. Harrison,” she says, sitting on the edge of the stage. “I am _so sorry_ for not asking for permission….”**

Luke snorts. Julie smacks him in the chest. “The expression is ‘better to ask forgiveness than permission.’ It’s not to skip both.”

“Fine, fine.”

**“I just wanted to show you I belong here.”**

**Ms. Harrison sighs, “As amazing as that was… your spot has already been filled by another student.”**

**She indicates where what looks to be a 12-year-old is dragging a cello down the stairs, the instrument hitting every step painfully.**

“Are you frickin’ kidding me?!” Luke shouts.

**“Come on, that thing is _way_ too big for him,” Julie protests just as much.**

“No real musician would treat their instrument like that,” Luke insists to further their point. “No way!”

**“He’ll grow into it,” Ms. Harrison tries to argue, but even _she_ doesn't sound like she believes herself.**

“Not this semester, he won’t,” Luke seethes.

“I—” Julie starts.

“Got back into your music program, I know. Doesn’t make this any less offensive.”

Julie huffs but doesn’t argue with him.

**Ms. Harrison gathers herself. “I wish that I could help you,” she says as sincerely as possible. “But my hands are tied.”**

**And _that’s_ when Principal Lessa steps in. **

**“Mine aren’t,” she declares, folding her hands in front of her. “And as much as I didn’t approve of this little stunt that you pulled… I will _not_ go down in history as the principal that kicked Julie Molina out of the music program.”**

“Heck—yes! _That’s_ what I’m talking about.” Luke claps.

Alex leans towards Julie. “You know how teachers tell students to use their ‘inside voices.’ I’m pretty sure that expression was invented specifically for Luke.”

**“Thank you!” Julie exclaims.**

**“But,” the principal holds up one finger.**

“What now?!!”

**“When you win your first Grammy, _I_ want to be thanked.”**

“Okay, okay,” Luke says, finally calming down now. “We can work with that.”

**"Definitely," Julie's smile is ecstatic, but only a fraction wider than Ms. Harrison's, who thanks the principal on her way out.**

**She turns back to Julie. “Congratulations,” she nearly squeals, going in to give her a hug. “Welcome back!” she adds, before she also heads in the direction of the classrooms.**

**The camera pulls back to show Flynn watching the proceedings.**

**Julie spots her too, hopping off the stage to meet her friend, her hair bouncing with every step.**

**“Wow,” Flynn says, voice as flat as seven sodas left out in the sun. “You did it.”**

“Is she alright? I get that we haven’t actually met her yet, but that was _not_ the level of enthusiasm I was expecting,” Alex observes.

Julie flinches against Luke's side.

**“Thanks to you,” Julie responds.**

**Flynn presses her lips together, looking away.**

****

“Okay, that girl is _not_ happy,” Luke agrees.

**“Hey, you okay?” Julie asks Flynn, catching on to the same thing.**

**“Uh, I’m great,” Flynn says—sounding anything but. “When did you start playing with the hologram band?” she questions.**

“About five minutes ago—and she _still_ rocked it.”

**“Oh, it was just one song,” Julie tries, waving her hand, dismissively. “We’re not a band.”**

“Ugh, are you still holding out on us?” Luke laments. There are times when he feels like he really _gets_ Julie, and other times when he doesn't understand her at all. Didn't she hear what they sounded like together? His rasp and her chest voice blended like, like—a guitar and a piano—like they were _meant_ to go together.

“ _Please_ tell me you agree to play with us soon—or Luke’s going to be insufferable,” Alex adds in.

“I really am.” Luke doesn’t even try denying it.

Julie's cheeks twitch at the corners. “Don’t worry. He wears me down this same day.”

“Hallelujah,” Alex praises.

 **“I mean, _they’re_ a band. A hologram band. Definitely holograms.” ** _And Julie is definitely rambling._

**“Yeah, I saw,” Flynn says, but it's obvious that's not the part concerning her. “Why have you been keeping those cute boys a secret?”**

“Okay, I’m really confused,” Luke inserts. “Is she mad that you didn’t tell her about us? Or because we’re cute?”

Julie rolls her eyes. “The first one,” she tells him, as if it should be obvious.

“Well, then, I will take the compliment,” Reggie says, self-satisfied.

**“There’s… a reason for that,” Julie promises. “It’s just… really crazy.”**

**“Ooh, I’m all about crazy. Let’s hear it,” Flynn insists.**

**“Okay, so, they’re…" Flynn waits while Julie wracks her brains for something, _anything_. "From Sweden!" she finally lands on. "Turns out they’re not only great at making meatballs, but also—great at making music.”**

Luke opens his mouth.

“You don’t have to tell me,” Julie groans, burying her head in her hands. “That was awful. I don’t even know why I thought that would help. Even if you guys _were_ from Sweden, it doesn’t explain how we ended up connecting or why I didn’t tell her about you.”

**“Yeah… so they play there, I shoot them here, we play together—they leave, and that’s it. Anyway… who’s excited that I’m back in the music program?!” she asks, trying to distract Flynn with jazz hands.**

“Ouch. Even I know this is awkward,” says Reggie.

**Flynn’s eyebrows come together. “Jules, are you _lying_ to me?”**

“Fact of life: friends are always _way_ better lie detectors than parents,” Alex points out, as if it's sage wisdom and not just the fact that his ears turn red whenever he's making shit up. “I understand why you don’t want to tell her, but….”

 _You're putting your friendship in jeopardy if you don't,_ Luke thinks the rest of the sentence for him. And Luke knows from experience that friends are some of the most important things you can have.

**Julie weighs her options for a moment—before dropping her hands, reluctantly. “Yeah,” she confesses. “Yeah, I’m lying.”**

**Flynn shakes her head, jaw obviously working. “Since _when_ do we lie to each other?”**

**“Flynn…. I’m sorry.”**

**“I’m _sorry_? That’s all you got?” Flynn’s voice rises in disbelief.**

Julie must _really_ not want to think about Caleb if this is what she wanted to use to get her mind off him.

As if she read his mind, Julie turns towards him a little more. “I forgot how mad she was at me," she admits. "It’s water under the bridge now, but—I really hate it when we fight.”

"Yeah, it sucks. But sometimes, you end up stronger for it." His parents had had some pretty heated arguments over the years, but not the same way Reggie's had. It was the kind of fights that would result in his dad spending a night on the couch and then, two days later, they were all lovey-dovey again. Which was gross, of course, but in kind of a sweet way. He and the guys always managed to patch themselves up after fights too.

He squeezes her shoulder briefly in sympathy.

**Then, Flynn is running out of the gym.**

**Julie’s a pretty fast runner herself, but Flynn is already 50 feet ahead of her.**

“Wow, that girl can _book_ it,” Reggie comments.

**“Come on, Flynn!” Julie shouts after her retreating friend. “Flynn, Wait!”**

**Of course, she’s cut off by none other than cello guy.**

“Did Carrie hire him to be annoying or something?” Luke mutters.

**“Really?” Julie tells him. But by the time that obstacle is cleared, Flynn is nowhere to be seen.**

**A random jock holds out his hand to Julie for a high five and she returns it on instinct.**

**Next, a trio of kids approach her. “Dude, dude,” one guy says, “Those holograms were so cool. It’s like we were at Coachella, but like, not in the desert and without the sweat.”**

“Do people _normally_ dress up as cats in the future?” Alex asks, pointing to the girl standing off to the side of him.

“Um, our school mascot is a bobcat. And—spirit rally—you know.”

He still looks from Julie to the screen, skeptically.

**“Thanks,” Julie tells him, breathing a sigh of relief when he and his friends continue the path down the hallway.**

**Until Nick shows up.**

**“It’s true,” the blonde lacrosse player says while Julie turns moony-eyed. “That was… incredible.”**

Luke readjusts himself in his seat, removing his arm from the back of the couch. He knows Julie said that she was over her crush on Nick. But on-screen Julie absolutely wasn’t.

And who knows? Maybe she lied about the fact that she still likes him to get the phantoms off her back?

**As should have probably been expected, Carrie swoops in from nowhere. “It was way better than when you cried and ran out.”**

“That’s it…” Reggie announces, rolling up his sleeves before Luke can even get the words out. “I get that you said ‘no haunting’, Julie, but she has to be an exception, right? She shouldn’t get to talk to you like that.” His nostrils are even slightly flared. 

So maybe he's _slightly_ scary as teddy bears go.

Julie reaches across Alex to grab the bassist’s hand. “I appreciate that you want to defend me, but Carrie isn’t worth it, I promise. Plus, if there is _anyone_ in the world who'd love to expose my 'holograms' as fake, it _would_ be her, so let's avoid getting her suspicions up, alright?”

**Nick looks between Julie and his girlfriend. “Hey, um,” he taps Carrie with his binder. “Maybe we should get to science?”**

“Dude, that’s all you’re going to do?” Luke grumbles, crossing his arms over his chest.

“I don’t need Nick to fight my battles for me,” Julie argues back.

**“Yeah,” Julie agrees, narrowing her eyes. “Maybe then you can study the chemical properties of manners… or something.”**

“That… wasn’t terrible,” Luke tells her.

 **“Was that supposed to be a comeback?” Carrie asks with raised eyebrows.** **“…Wow.”**

****

**“Wow yourself.”**

Luke winces. “Okay, not gonna lie… That one was lame, Jules.”

“And I suppose you could have done better?” she asks.

“I mean, probably. But if you want sarcastic comebacks, that’s Alex all the way.”

The drummer’s already nodding. “I might have gone with something like—‘You’re right. I guess _I_ ‘make ‘em say ‘wow’ after all.”

Luke offers his hand for a fist bump.

**Carrie smirks. “Another win-ner,” she mocks, before turning away with a crinkle from her plastic jacket.**

**Nick follows in her wake, the camera tracking his movements.**

“Wait, this thing is gonna show Nick stuff even when you’re not there?” Luke gripes.

“I—I guess,” Julie says. Then, she takes in his expression. “Or… it could be showing us Carrie?”

Luke’s shoulders relax a little. He hadn’t thought of that.

**“Hey, that was kinda cold,” Nick states, gesturing back at Julie.**

****

**“You two used to be friends.”**

Reluctantly, Luke feels his respect rise for the other teenager a little. But _just_ a little.

**Carrie halts mid-step, forcing her boyfriend to do the same. “I've _earned_ my chair, Nick,” she reminds him, hand up to his chest. “Julie _lost_ hers after she didn’t sing a note for a year.”**

****

_She didn’t sing for a year because she has_ feelings _. Unlike_ some people _._

**“…Then, suddenly, she drops in unannounced to upstage me with her little hologram act." Her voice becomes flinty, in direct contrast to how bright she still looks in her costume. "I worked _hard_ on that routine. Julie’s no friend,” she tells him with finality, before storming away. Overhead, the bell rings.**

**Nick watches her leave warily. “I stepped into that,” he rumbles.**

“I didn’t know she felt like that,” Julie says quietly, bringing her legs up to her chest on the couch.

“Oh, no. No way are you going to feel bad because you’re talented and she’s insecure,” Luke argues, wishing he could transfer his complete conviction directly into her brain.

“But we _did_ kind of steal her thunder out there,” Julie remarks.

“And if she’s going to make it in the big leagues, she’s gonna have a lot more competition that just us,” Luke reminds her, reaching out and tilting her chin up. “I understand working hard and not getting the results you wanted to. But you can't blame anyone for that but yourself. Carrie’s obviously talented—and I get that she still means something to you—but if she feels like we upstaged her, that should be a reason for her to get better, not get bitter.” It was that same kind of competition that inspired him to recruit Bobby, after all.

“That’s… surprisingly profound of you,” Alex mentions, and Luke doesn't know if he should be pleased or insulted by that.

He decides to split the difference. “Love you, too, Alex,” he says, somewhat sarcastically.

**/////**

**Meanwhile, Julie continues her search for Flynn.**

**“Julie!” the phantoms cheer as she rounds the corner—Reggie and Alex holding Luke up by the legs to form a pyramid.**

****

**“Gaah!” Julie screams.**

**“Stop doing that!” she insists, once her heart rate has come back down. “I’m serious!”**

**“Woah, woah, woah,” Reggie cuts her off. “This one is on you. We were already here.” He reconsiders. “Well, actually, we were over there—but then we came _over_ here.”**

Luke and Alex shake their heads, simultaneously.

**“Are we not gonna talk about what just happened?” Luke asks eagerly.**

**“Yeah, the whole school saw you,” Julie says, as if reminding herself. “It’s kinda freaking me out.”**

**“Oh, okay, good—because it’s kinda freaking me out too,” Alex rushes in to say. “You know, _you_ can see us. An-n-d then people can see us whenever we play music. And my clothes are made of air, but for some reason, I’m still getting a wedgie.” Both Julie and Reggie wrinkle their noses as that. Meanwhile, Luke just rubs the drummer's back soothingly. “So many questions,” Alex finishes with his hands on his hips, finally taking a moment to breathe.**

“But our clothes _can’t_ be made of air, right?” Alex interrogates himself. “Because we got them out of a bag in your loft. So, do they become air when we put them on? How ‘on’ do they have to be to become invisible? Like, if we have a sock half-way on our foot, is that enough, or do we have to be fully wearing it?”

All three of them stare at him blankly. “I got nothing, I’m sorry,” Julie finally relents.

Alex blows out a warm gust of air, ruffling some of the hair that has fallen in front of his face. “Do _any_ of our questions about ghost stuff get answered?” he wonders, exasperated.

Julie’s mouth does a weird thing—like she’s trying not to smile. “Uh, some of them.”

"Why do I get the sense that you're not telling us everything?" Alex asks slowly.

" _Probably_ because I'm not telling you everything." And yup, she's definitely smiling now.

**It’s obvious Luke isn’t quite sharing his concerns. “The important thing is that we _rocked_ that place.”**

“Yeah, this? One of the reasons we didn’t work out,” Alex tells Luke.

“Come on, Alex. Sometimes you gotta live for the moment.”

**“They were _loving_ you."**

**And _that_ , at least, seems to coax a smile out of Julie. “Are you kidding? They loved _us_.” Her eyes focus on the guitarist. “That was a great song, Luke. Thanks.”**

**“A-a-a-nd, did you guys see the cheerleaders looking at me?" Reggie exclaims. Then he frowns. "I _think_ they were looking at me,” he says, sounding slightly more worried. He grabs Luke’s arms. “Tell me they were looking at me.”**

**Julie lets out a giggle while Luke's hands frame Reggie’s face, a grin splitting his features, “Bro. They were looking at you.”**

****

**“Oh! I knew it!” Warmth comes flooding back into Reggie's voice like waves on a beach.**

“I _will_ point out that just because they’re part of Dirty Candy doesn’t make them cheerleaders,” Julie speaks around Alex to the bassist.

“I am perfectly okay with that."

**“I’m so confused,” Alex speaks up, clearly having a different conversation than the rest of them. “The afterlife should come with instructions—or a quick-start guide—or—or something!”**

“Yes!” Alex exclaims, holding both his hands out towards his other self. “People have been dying since literally forever. _How_ has no one left directions behind yet?”

"Maybe that's what crop circles are for," suggests Reggie.

" _How_ would that be practical?"

**Julie’s expression becomes more thoughtful again. “Well, the good thing is that everyone thought you guys were holograms. And... I got back into the program,” she mumbles, staring down at the linoleum.**

**“Why do you look so bummed?” Reggie asks.**

**“Yeah, Dude, you’re making this face,” Luke says, before grabbing Alex and Reggie to bring them closer and contorting his features into a mask of sadness.**

****

**Julie clears her throat, hiding her reluctant amusement under annoyance pretty well. “That—is not my face,” she informs the guitarist.**

**Reggie rocks his head back and forth in disagreement, while Luke just flat out says, “It’s your face.”**

“Yeah, I think our impression is spot on,” Luke teases, returning his arm to its place on the couch back.

“No, it’s _not,_ ” Julie shrieks, the sound high enough that it makes the hairs along that arm stand on end.

**“Things just got weird between me and Flynn,” Julie admits. “She asked about you guys and—I couldn’t say.”**

**“Sweet,” Reggie murmurs. “Girls are already talking about us.”**

**Luke gives him a low high five.**

****

“Such a one-track mind with these two,” Alex grumbles.

**“Stop! I’m serious,” Julie tells them, although the effect is a bit ruined by the slight laugh in her voice. “I can’t tell her about you guys for the same reason I can’t tell my dad—she’ll think I’ve gone off the deep-end.”**

**“Well, this guy _definitely_ thinks you’ve gone off the deep-end,” Reggie informs her, indicating the janitor pushing his cart through the hallway. **

**Julie and the maintenance man get into a stare off, until he eventually walks away, muttering under his breath.**

"Well, he's talking to himself, too, so maybe it's all good?" Reggie offers.

**She figures that’s her cue to leave. “I gotta get back to class,” she tells the boys.**

"I actually missed half of Calculus," she admits, glad that her dad never found out about _that_ instance, at least.

**“Later, Julie!” Reggie says, cheerfully. “Tell those cheerleaders that I’m single.”**

**“And that he’s dead!” Alex calls out after her.**

**“No, no, leave that part out! Leave that part out!” Reggie shouts, but she’s already gone.**


	10. Willie

Alex watches himself **pace across the screen, Luke’s and Reggie’s gazes tracking his movements from their places on the couch the same way you’re supposed to follow the light at eye exams.**

****

**“I think that he’s practicing his _model_ strut,” Reggie announces over the padding of Alex’s footsteps.**

**“He’s so nervous, he’s almost making _me_ nervous,” Luke whispers back.**

“If you know he’s anxious, why don’t you talk to _Alex_ about it, not each other?” Julie asks, pointedly. “It might be more helpful.”

“Eh, he’ll talk to us when he’s ready,” Luke responds. He cocks his head to the side. “I give him… two more times going back and forth.”

“Two?” Alex asks incredulously. “Why _two?_ We don’t even know how long I’ve been doing that for.”

“You’ve gone from rubbing your hands together to touching your hair. That means you’re about ready to crack.”

“That’s not—”

**“Look, you guys _know_ I don’t handle change well,” Alex suddenly announces.**

Luke flashes a teeth-baring grin.

“Lucky guess,” Alex mumbles.

**“Death— _that_ was a change. Alright? And then we became _ghosts_ — _another_ change.”**

“I mean, the dying and becoming ghosts kinda happened at the same time. Can’t we count that as one change?” Reggie wonders out loud.

“Or. _Or_ —” Alex protests, “We can count dying, becoming ghosts, getting sent to an empty void, time traveling into the future, _and_ finding out that we made a ghost arch-nemesis separately,” he lists off, squeezing each finger of his left hand between the thumb and forefinger of his right as he does so. “That’s what…? Five things? You guys think I’m being dramatic when really I’m _under_ selling the number of reasons I have to be totally and completely freaked out!”

**“And now—we can be seen whenever we play with Julie,” Alex exclaims. “Big frickin’ change!”**

“That too!”

**“Yeah, but, Bro, it was a _good_ change,” Luke insists. “With Julie, we can play onstage again and be the band we never got to be.” He spreads his arms wide. “Come on, you’ve _got_ to be down for that.”**

**“I mean, yeah. Who wouldn’t be? I just—” Alex pauses. “I want to figure out _why_.”**

****

**“Forget why!” Luke insists, kicking his way off the couch. “I say that we invite Julie to join Sunset Curve!” he announces, looking between both of his band members.**

“You really do need to stop doing that,” Julie nudges Luke with her shoulder. “I get that the band is important, but that band is made of _people_ —and sometimes they have other things that they’re dealing with that come before music.”

He opens his mouth to protest.

“At least temporarily,” she adds.

“I—” Luke starts again, but then he catches Alex’s eye over Julie’s shoulder. The drummer doesn’t bother to comment—Julie said it all already—but something Luke sees apparently prompts him to change his mind. “Okay, you're right… I need to learn to chill.”

“Why do I feel like we’re going to hear that a lot more often with Julie around?” Reggie whispers slyly under his breath to Alex.

Alex smiles. “Maybe because, when we became ghosts, we also became psychic.”

"Seriously?" Reggie jolts upright at the possibility.

"No." That being said, he _does_ have a prediction of his own. The next time Julie needs someone to back her up, he’ll be there—being as protective of her as she’s been of him.

**“Yeah, totally,” Reggie says easily. “I mean, like, think about it. With a new lead singer, this band would be _legendary_!”**

**Alex gives a considering nod.**

Okay, now it’s time for _his_ other self to be a little more sensitive to the situation, Alex thinks, as he sees Luke freeze up in his peripheral vision.

**Luke gives a much more knee-jerk reaction. “Hey! _I’m_ our lead singer.”**

****

**Reggie makes a face at him. “Dude,” he retorts. “That girl has the voice of an angel. And she can make us _visible!_ Without her, we’re just like—elevator music.”**

“Really cool elevator music though,” Reggie adds, apparently misreading why Luke's upset.

**Luke’s eyebrows look like storm clouds over his eyes. “Well, you don’t got to be so _mean_ about it,” he mumbles.**

****

“I never realized that this bothered you,” Julie mentions softly.

“I don’t—It’s not—I mean…” Luke tries—and fails—to pretend that they didn’t all just watch him pout in disappointment. “Look,” he eventually huffs. “Ideally, you shouldn’t be hearing this. But it’s not like I think Reggie’s _wrong_ —I just…” he makes a rolling motion with his hands as if that will help him crank out more words.

Julie considers him for a second. “If I could only listen to _one_ thing for the rest of my life, do you know what I’d pick…?”

“Uh, nooo…” Luke responds.

“My mom’s voice.”

He scratches the back of his neck, “Well, yeah, that makes sense—”

“But,” she cuts him off with a slightly nervous smile. “If I had a _second_ choice…” she shrugs, “I’d want to listen to yours.”

“I—For real?” Luke stutters.

“I mean, don’t get too big a head about it,” she says, moving her eyes to the ceiling. “Otherwise, you won’t be able to fit into your beanies. But—I _love_ the way you sing. Plus, you really are an amazing songwriter—always pushing yourself into new genres and exploring new concepts—it’s hard to imagine getting tired of that.”

Alex watches the guitarist blush. _Yeah, there’s_ no way _Luke doesn’t fall for this girl._

“Besides,” she adds. “you’re dead, so _technically_ your voice is more angelic by definition.”

Luke shakes his head like he’s disagreeing, but he’s smiling back at her.

**Luke’s pity party is cut off by the sound of Alex’s resumed pacing. “And we’re on the runway again!” the guitarist exclaims, gesturing in the drummer’s direction.**

****

**“I’m sorry,” Alex responds.**

“Which actually _you two_ should be saying to _Alex_ ,” Julie inserts.

**“I just—I gotta go clear my head,” he decides, his body already halfway turning to leave. A foot away from the garage door, he swipes at the handle—only for his fingers to go straight through it.**

**He swallows, recenters himself.**

**His hand goes through again.**

**“Dude, you’re a ghost,” Reggie tells him. “Just poof out.”**

“Couldn’t you just walk _through_ the door too?” Luke asks.

“Is this really the time to be criticizing my methods?” Alex asks them, bolstered to his own defense by Julie’s pep talk. “I’m _trying_ to feel normal—which means doing things the _normal_ way.”

**In response, Alex's voice goes off like a bottle rocket. “Don’t tell me how to ghost!” he shouts before, reluctantly, doing just what the bassist said.**

“Sorry, Alex,” Reggie murmurs.

“Yeah, me too, Bro.”

**/////**

**The camera follows Alex to Hollywood Boulevard, where families are taking pictures with people dressed up as Marilyn Monroe, Elvis, and what looks to be the Scooby Doo gang.**

“If it helps anything, you’re about to feel so much better!” Julie practically squeals, moving to sit cross-legged on the floor the way that Luke did for _Bright_.

Reggie’s forehead furrows. “Is it just me or are girls _also_ scary when they’re really _happy_?”

Alex doesn’t say anything, but he’s got to agree, especially since it’s pretty clear by now that whatever’s been putting that mischievous smile on Julie’s face for several episodes has to do with _him_.

“Jules?” Luke asks the girl hesitantly. “What’s this all about?”

“Shhhh,” she instructs, waving his concerns off.

**The drummer walks with his hands in his pockets, only to stop and stare at—**

**The Ghostbusters talking to a lady in a sunhat.**

****

“Oh, you better get out of there, Man!” Reggie exclaims.

“What?” Julie’s face is lit from behind by the screen, but Alex can still clearly spot her disbelief. “Come on, Reggie, you gotta know those are just guys in costumes. It’s not like they’re going to be able to hurt Alex—or even _see_ him!”

“Yeah, Reg,” Alex says uneasily. “What are you worried about?”

**“Oh God,” Alex says to himself, stumbling backwards several paces. “I’m busted.” Ducking down, he puts his arms over his head to protect himself and—**

**“D’owh!”**

**They just go through him.**

****

Julie tries to cover a laugh as a cough as **his on-screen self clears his throat, tugs sharply on his shirt, and in general, feels very grateful that no one could see that.**

****

**The camera lingers behind him however, focusing on a skateboard making its way through the street. “Beep beep” its owner calls out, but so far, the screen is only showing him from the ripped knees of his jeans down.**

“Who’s that?” Alex asks with a furrow between his eyebrows.

“I think I’m gonna let him tell you,” Julie answers mysteriously.

**“Coming through,” the skateboarder yells louder, and this time, when the person in front of him doesn’t get out of the way—he passes through him like air.**

“He’s a ghost?” Alex marvels, leaning forward now. “What am I? Like a ghost magnet or something? First this—Caleb—bumps into _me_ at the Orpheum and now this guy?”

“Huh. I hadn’t actually put that together before,” Julie murmurs.

 **“Cheese!” the skateboarder cheers, flying through someone holding their phone up to take a picture.** This time, Alex gets a glimpse of a blue shirt and tan skin.

**Whoever it is definitely seems to like laughing—giving another light chuckle with every person he passes—until—**

**Until the sound is abruptly cut off by him running into Alex.**

**The two of them both go tumbling into the street.**

**“Ah! Ow!” they both give simultaneously groans.**

“Look! There’s someone in a chicken costume in the background!” Reggie announces, pointing.

Julie turns laser eyes on him. “Reg, I love you, but if you talk over their meet-cute, I will order a dozen pizzas and leave them in the garage just to torture you.”

“Who? Me? I? What?” Reggie exclaims, cycling through the beginnings of sentences like they’re flashcards.

“Hey, Isn’t that torturing the rest of us too?” Luke questions her.

“You _like_ staring at food and not eating it,” Julie reminds him.

Meanwhile, Alex’s mind is still stuck on the words ‘meet-cute.’

**Eventually, the skater boy gets up. “Oh man,” he grumbles. “You dinged my board.”**

****

**Alex’s scoff is automatic. “I _dinged_ your _board?!_ Dude, you ran me over! You’re lucky I didn’t—” He pauses, clearly thinking over what he was just about to say. “Wait. You—you ran me over,” he observes, the fanny pack wrapped sideways around his chest almost looking like it’s giving him a hug. “You’re—you’re a ghost?”**

**“Uh, yeah,” the other guy says like it’s obvious, undoing the clasp on his helmet.**

Alex scoots forward on the couch, unconsciously.

 _He’s cute,_ he thinks faintly, like an echo in the back of his head.

**“Ever since I learned the hard way that—” The helmet comes off. Cute guy shakes his hair out—flips it back.**

****

****

Alex’s mouth goes from normal to dry so fast he wonders if another 25 years have passed and he just didn’t notice it.

“Uh, is the TV acting up again? Why’d everything get so slow?” Luke speaks up.

“It’s not me this time," Julie says quickly. Then grins. "Alex?”

(“This time?” Luke mouths from behind her shoulder, confused.)

“I—uh—who’s he?” Alex repeats his earlier question.

“Who do you _think_ he is?”

He has a suspicion, of course, based on how enthusiastic Julie’s been, but he’s almost afraid to say it out loud.

But that's, apparently, what he's got friends for.

“ _Oh, oh, oh!_ Is this Alex’s new ghost boyfriend?” Reggie's excitement has him sitting up like a meerkat popping out of a hole.

Julie just smiles wider.

“Is he?” Alex finally manages to ask.

“I mean, I don’t think you guys have quite put a label on it yet, but—” She nods her head.

"Guess your love life's not 'dead' after all," Reggie pats him on the back.

Meanwhile, Luke is giving the screen an interested second look. “Dude, do you know what that means?" he asks, flashing his teeth. "Payback!”

 **“** — **skating in traffic is bad,” the skater continues speaking.**

By this point, Alex has completely lost track of what he was saying.

****

“And… now it’s slow again,” Luke grumbles.

“I—sorry,” Alex answers, flushing. “I think that’s—uh—my fault. I just—um….”

“Oh, give him a break," Julie insists. "It's their first time meeting. And I like getting to see them together. I never got to before."

Now Alex is confused. “Haven’t you met—”

"Willie."

"Willie—before?"

“No. I’ve just heard you talk about him. And even if he _were_ to stop by—I don’t think I could _see_ him, considering I’ve never seen any other ghosts but you three—”

Right.

**On screen, Alex swallows. Hard.**

“Do you guys really need to be watching this too?” Alex asks, fighting a blush, even though he already knows the cause is hopeless.

“Yes!” Julie chimes in immediately.

Luke juts his chin out. “Sorry, Man, there’s no way we’re missing this.”

“Yeah,” Reggie agrees. “After all, it’s only fair. We’ve already watched Julie and Luke flirt—”

“ _Talk_. You watched us _talk_ ,” Luke corrects.

“Riiiight. ‘Talk’,” Reggie responds with air quotes.

“I—Can we get back to Alex now?” Luke demands.

**“Hey, sorry I smashed into you,” Willie tacks on. “I thought you were a lifer and I’d just pass right through.”**

**“A lifer?” Alex questions.**

“Oh my God, he has answers to things, doesn’t he?” Alex half-shouts, leaning all the way forward so the weight of the upper half of his body is on his knees.

“Somehow, that’s getting you as hot and bothered as the hair, isn’t it?” Luke asks.

Alex takes the pillow Luke threw a couple of episodes ago and lobs it at his head.

**“That’s what we call people who are—living.”**

**Alex nods, almost automatically.**

**Willie gives him a considering up and down. “You’re new to this whole ghost thing, aren’t you?”**

**Alex's smile seems to catch even himself off-guard with how bright and genuine it is. “Uh, yeah. Is it that obvious?” he questions.**

**Willie’s chuckle returns. “Totally,” he confirms, his eyebrows rising and falling as he speaks.**

Alex feels his pulse pick up a little bit. He would never tell Luke this on pain of death, but one of the things he always found attractive about him is how expressive he is. Not just that emotions are clear on his face—but that he feels so many of them so intensely. Willie seems to be the same way—only with a completely different energy.

If Luke’s a tornado, Willie reminds Alex of the ocean. Still a force to be reckoned with, but also kind of soothing to be around.

**“Hi, I’m Willie,” Willie introduces himself, reaching out a hand to shake.**

**“Alex,” Alex responds, jolting a little when their hands make contact.**

**Willie gives him another full-body scan. “So, uh, what brings you to Hollywood, Man? Sightseeing? Picture with that, uh—” he clicks his tongue. “Marilyn girl?”** **His eyebrows waggle again, a little more suggestively this time.**

**“I was having a _minor_ afterlife crisis," Alex admits, holding up two fingers to indicate the size of his freak out. "So, you know, just clearing my head.” He pauses. “ _Until_ you tried to crack it open.”**

**Willie’s laugh is instantaneous and travels from his shoulders down to his toes like a tidal wave. “I did pancake you, huh.”**

****

“Well, aren’t you two sweet?” Luke speaks up, amused grin on his face.

“Yeah, we are,” Alex answers, not going to deny it. There’s an anxious fluttering his stomach, but for once—it’s a good kind.

**Alex looks down shyly.**

**Instantly, Willie’s face transforms again, becoming more concerned. “I’m—sorry. So… minor afterlife crisis…?” he prompts.**

**“Yeah,” Alex's voice turning somber. “I just keep—freaking out about everything. You know? Shouldn’t we be in Heaven or something?”**

“You know, my family’s always believed in God and Heaven,” Julie murmurs. “But after my mom—” She clears her throat, changing the sentence midway through. “As much as I wish that this hadn’t happened to you—don’t you find it a little comforting to know that there’s an afterlife at all?”

“Don’t get me wrong—I definitely prefer existing to not existing. But the idea of spending forever on Earth—never getting older, not getting to interact with 99.99% of the population. It’s… a little terrifying.”

“I guess—I hadn’t thought about like that.” She rests her chin on her knees.

“Hey,” Luke whispers. “Why don’t you come back up here on the couch?” he suggests, patting the spot next to him.

She only takes a second to think about it before fitting into the open space easily, Luke offering her a one-armed hug.

**“Who’s we?” Willie asks, curiously.**

**“Oh. Me and my bandmates. We all died.”**

_Obviously, since we're_ ghosts, Alex thinks, trying not to groan at himself.

**But Willie doesn't seem to mind him overexplaining himself. His lips just firm in sympathy. “That’s tragic, Man. Did you have some kind of accident or…?”**

“Yeah, let’s go with that,” Luke points at the screen.

**“Yeah,” Alex agrees, with a little added breath. “Yeah, you could—you could say that.”**

“Good man.”

**Alex sticks his tongue out, “We, uh—ate some bad hotdogs.”**

“I take it back.”

“Hey, he’s being honest,” Julie chides him. “You’ve got to stop encouraging people to lie when they don’t _have_ to.”

**“Woah, no way,” Willie teases. “Weirdly, _that_ is what happened to Mozart.”**

****

**Alex tilts his head up. “Wow. That’s actually comforting,” he says as seriously as he can manage.**

“Really?” Reggie exclaims. “Dude, that’s so strange. You think it’s like—a curse on musicians or something?”

“I—” Alex starts, then changes his mind. Not worth it.

**By this time, the background has gone completely fuzzy—just Alex and Willie in their own little world. “Hey, so do you mind if I ask you a couple more questions?”**

****

**Willie gives him a look from under his eyelashes. “That’s kind of your thing, isn’t it?” he comments, almost to himself.**

_The endless black void could do with some air conditioning right about now._

****

**“Alright,” the skater agrees to Alex's request, once again dropping his board to the ground. “ _You_ just got to keep up.” And with that, he pushes off, gliding down the street slow enough that Alex can still run after him.**

“Alex, aren’t you the one who's always saying playing hard-to-get doesn’t work?” Reggie questions.

**“Hey, um, wait up!” Alex shouts, sprinting to catch up.**

“First off, I said _you_ playing hard-to-get doesn’t work—because you are literally not capable of staying away from a girl you like. Second—shut up.”

**/////**

**The scene cuts to Ray looking through stacks of papers at the kitchen counter.**

And Alex feels a mix of relieved—that the spotlight is off him—and disappointed because he really wants to learn more about Willie.

**Apparently unsatisfied, he drops them back down so that he can rub at his face and the back of his neck.**

“Poor guy," Reggie murmurs. "What’s wrong?”

**Meanwhile, Julie’s just gotten home from school. Setting her backpack down just inside the front door, she watches her father for a minute—before running at him full charge, shouting all the while.**

Luke’s lips quirk.

“What?” Julie asks him.

“Nothing. It’s just—cute—is all.”

“Luke,” Reggie scolds. “I don’t think Julie appreciates being called an ‘it.’”

**Ray smiles as his daughter runs into him, but there’s still stress in his shoulders.**

**“What’s all this?” Julie asks, leaning against her dad’s shoulder.**

**“Just—you know—some stuff on—on—other schools with music programs. And—and—some private lesson stuff. I know it looks like a mess, but your dad’s got this.”**

“Well, Ray, do we got some news for you—” Reggie enthuses.

“You guys really have made his life easier since you've come around,” Julie says with a grateful voice. “I haven’t had to help him find his keys or his cellphone in forever because you always put them in the key dish for him.”

**Julie slides away, casually. “Luckily for you, I got back in at my school.”**

**Ray spins around immediately. He's still hunched over,** **but there’s a spark of hope in his eyes. “Wait, wait! What?” he stumbles over his words. “You’re not joking with me right now?”**

**“I went down and put on a show with some ghosts—getters. Go-getters.”**

“Ooh, it’s like a tongue twister,” Reggie observes. “I could never say ‘toy boat’ more than three times. Toy boat toy boat toy boyt.” He points at himself. “See?”

**“—And Principal Lessa let me back in,” Julie finishes.**

**Ray’s smiling so hard, it’s almost a grimace. “Yes, yes!” he shouts, throwing all his papers into the air so he can swing Julie around in a circle.**

****

**“You’re awesome! I’m so happy for you! You’re the best!”**

“No, you’re the best!” Reggie tells Ray.

Alex is starting to see what Julie meant about Reggie having a _special_ bond with her dad.

**Sighing in relief, he bends down to pick up the mess he just made. Julie joins him. “No, it’s okay, I got it, I got it,” he reassures her, but she doesn’t listen.**

**One brochure in particular catches her eye. “The Australian School of Music?” she reads in disbelief. “That’s halfway around the world.”**

**Ray mumbles through the first part of his sentence. “I was gonna bring you home for Christmas.” He says it like a question. Julie pushes the pamphlet back at her father’s chest, finally leaving him to deal with the rest of the papers.**

“Are you serious? He was really going to let you leave—go to a foreign country—just because he didn’t want you to give up on your dream?” Luke’s voice is steady but there’s an underlying wobble in it that makes Alex’s chest hurt in sympathy.

“Yeah. I’m really lucky,” Julie agrees, watching the side of his face softly.

**As soon as she’s disappeared up the stairs, Ray tosses the pamphlets he just collected back into the air, giving another whoop of joy as they rain around him like confetti.**

"That looks like fun," Reggie observes. "Can we all do that?"

/////

 **The scene transition again with the sound of a** **guitar playing—Luke's guitar specifically.**

Luke automatically starts bopping his head along with the beat, the melancholy of a few seconds ago gone. “That doesn’t sound like original Sunset Curve. New song?” he asks, the same wonder in his voice that other people might get from seeing the Grand Canyon.

Julie doesn’t bother answering—just lets the TV play on.

**“Reggie, what do you think of this riff?” Luke prompts the bassist, before transitioning to something a little more upbeat—notes going bright and low, bright and low.**

**“Sweet! I’m feeling that.”**

“Yo, me too,” Luke says. Instead of having his arm semi-around Julie, his body’s now positioned slightly in front of hers, his elbows overlapping with her knees.

“I don’t know if it’s really healthy—or seriously unhealthy—that Luke loves his own ideas so much,” Alex grumbles.

**Luke continues to work out the melody.**

**Reggie nods. “Meanwhile, I come in with a little of this—” The addition of his bass instantly rounds out the sound and** **Luke’s energy picks up almost immediately in response.**

**“And then Julie comes in with her _killer lyrics_ —” **

“You were song writing with us?” Luke looks behind him at Julie.

“Not exactly,” she responds, flatly.

**“And Sunset Curve is reborn!”**

“I never got around to asking you guys—where’d the name come from?” Julie questions, looking from Luke to Alex.

Alex points her gaze back toward Luke.

“It’s uh—" he rubs his neck. "You know that feeling you get sometimes when you—you just don’t want something to be over?” the guitarist tries to explain.

“Yes.”

“Well, I was just thinking one day about how, you know, the sun sets at different times all over the world. And if you could just—follow the curve of the earth and chase it—then you’ll never have to see it go down. You could just—live in that moment forever.”

Alex has heard this before, of course—but it’s always a reminder of where all of those lyrics of Luke’s comes from. That in spite of how he talks sometimes, his thoughts are all in poetry.

Julie’s eyes sparkle just a little bit brighter. “That’s—really beautiful.”

**Her on-screen self looks much less thrilled as she enters the studio. “Guys, you’re not supposed to be playing out here alone.”**

Still, it oddly seems like progress. She’s annoyed at them—but much less loud about it than she was right after they met.

**“But we’re not alone—” Reggie contradicts her. Luke loops an arm around his neck, prompting him to grin wider. “Because we always have each other.”**

****

**Julie scoffs, unplugging his bass.**

“Oh, come on,” Luke protests. “We were adorable. How are you immune to the adorable?”

“I must be naturally gifted.”

**“But we had the volume level on one,” Luke tries, standing up.**

**“But we rocked it on volume ten,” Reggie promises. “Hey, do you want us to play it again?”**

**Julie unplugs Luke’s electric guitar.**

**“I really don’t think she does,” Luke whispers to his friend.**

Alex is impressed that the two of them aren’t doing it anyway.

**But then he perks up again quickly, like a flower given water. “We’ve actually been waiting for you to get home.”**

**Julie gives them what could pass as a patient look.**

**“We had a band meeting earlier and—” He pauses to let Reggie pat out a beat on his thighs.**

****

“A drumroll? Really? _Without_ your drummer?” Alex complains.

**By contrast, Luke’s arms are up almost as if he’s about to do a pull-up. “We want to invite you to join Sunset Curve. And no,” he adds quickly. “You’re not dreaming.”**

**Julie’s expression doesn’t change. “Oh.”**

**“Oh?” Luke repeats, almost stunned. “Oh? She said ‘oh’,” he tells Reggie, reaching up to scratch his hair under his beanie.**

“I think you broke Luke,” Reggie comments.

“Jules, we’re asking you to join _the band_. It’s a major moment. Like a _we’ll remember this forever_ moment. And you’re ‘oh-ing’ us,” Luke declares, seeming genuinely offended.

“If it helps, I promise I’ll be more enthusiastic later…?”

**“That’s what you say when you get socks on your birthday. Not when you get asked to join the most epic band ev-er,” Luke continues to rant.**

Alex kinda likes it when he gets socks on his birthday—especially if they have extra padding or aloe—but whatever.

**“Sorry. I’m honored,” Julie tells him. “But I can’t think about anything _other_ than Flynn right now. She’s still mad at me for lying. She hasn’t even texted me back!” she half-shouts.**

**Luke puts his hands on his hips while Reggie attempts a sympathetic face. “Yeah, you’re in a tough spot…" he agrees.**

**Then, three seconds later. "So, do you want to join the band?”**

Julie turns crossed arms on the Luke sitting beside her on the couch.

**“Read the room, Dude,” Julie informs him through tight teeth, her ‘Dude’ sounding much more like an insult than when any of the boys say it.**

**“Oh, come on!” Luke spins after her as she heads for the double doors. “We need you and you need us because you need music.”**

“Let me guess. This is one of those people first, music second things you were talking about.”

Her arms loosen their grip a little. “You actually listened," she says, impressed. "Usually, I have to say something at least three times before you do that.”

“Like _what_?” Luke cross-examines her.

**He evidently decides to try a different tactic. “We found this poem that you wrote. And Reggie and I added this really cool melody to it. It sounds awesome,” he promises, digging down into the ground with his legs and knees.**

**A dangerous spark lights Julie’s next words. “Where’d you find that?”**

**Luke grabs Reggie’s arm to pull him in front of his chest. “Definitely not your dream box.”**

Julie gestures exaggeratedly at the screen. “Like _that!”_

**“You went through my stuff!” Julie yells, as Luke runs away from her.**

**“I-I-I know, but—”**

It's strange to hear Luke sounding _nervous._ Then again, Julie might scare him more than any girl he's ever met.

**“Yeah, we can do that now!” Reggie offers from the background.**

“Dude, that’s not helping.”

**“No! No, you can’t!” Julie shouts back at him as she chases Luke in a circle around the piano.**

****

**“Boundaries! Give it back.”**

**“No,” Luke tells her, jumping onto the piano bench seat with two distinct _thumps_ to stare her down.**

Alex isn't used to seeing Luke like this. It’s not that the guitarist avoids confrontation, exactly. It’s just that besides arguing music with his mom, he doesn’t find that many battles _worth_ pursuing. He’d rather just—let angry people be angry—while he moves on to working on a song or scoping out local clubs.

For all the hesitance he showed earlier about Julie being “the new lead singer,” her joining the band clearly falls under the list of things he wants badly enough to fight for it.

**“You need to realize how insanely talented you are,” he insists, half leaning over her side of the piano now. “ _Listen_ to this: ‘If somebody hurts you’—”**

**Julie makes a grab for the paper, but Luke snatches it—puts it behind his back—and begins reciting from memory. “If somebody hurts you, I’m gonna get hurt too.’” His eyes look straight into hers. “And my life, my life—” he continues, adding melody now. “—Would be real low, zero, flying so-l-o-o-o.”**

**“O-o-oh!” Reggie chimes in.**

Despite being quiet, Luke’s got a giant smile on his face—that he hides every time Julie glances back at him.

**On screen, Luke also flashes a quick grin in the bassist’s direction.**

**“It’s a killer melody.”**

**Julie sighs. “I wrote that about Flynn—when she was helping me with all of my mom stuff,” she confesses, hands on her hips. “I gotta go.”**

**“Hey!” Luke calls after her. “What about the band?”**

“Okay, okay, don’t look at me like that. Even _I_ know I’m going a bit overboard here,” Luke grumbles.

 **“** **I almost forgot," she says, almost sweetly. "Stay out of my room!” she declares, before slamming both garage doors at once.**

**But Luke runs after her—desperate to get one last point in. “We will if you join our band!” he shouts, head and chest going through the garage door.**

"So... the only one of us who _can_ play hard-to-get is Julie. Got it," Reggie comments.

/////

Alex didn’t know what he expected to happen next, but for some reason, it wasn’t for **the show to go back to him and Willie.**

**They’re sitting together on a park bench. And by on, he literally means _on,_ with the two of them using the back as a seat and the seat as a footrest. One leg of his black pants and Willie’s ripped jeans are nearly touching.**

**“It’s just—so random,” he’s telling the skater. “You know, that we disappear for 25 years and then Julie plays our CD and then—BAM!—we’re back.”**

**“It’s kind of funny, right? You thought when you died, you’d get all these answers—and now you just have more questions,” Willie summarizes.**

****

And it doesn’t just sound like he’s saying it just to say it either. He sounds like he genuinely gets where Alex is coming from.

**“Hilarious,” Alex says in a deadpan, but it’s followed by their twin laughs. Meanwhile, one of the street mascots decides to occupy their same bench.**

“Awk-ward,” Reggie mumbles.

**Alex jerks back when he sees him—but then quickly goes back to chuckling with Willie.**

****

“Did that guy just—take his mask off—and then pull a sandwich out of it?” Reggie asks, tone going high-pitched at the end. “Was the sandwich sitting on top of his head while he was wearing the costume… or…?”

“And yet, _we’re_ the ones who died of food poisoning,” Luke grumbles, throwing his hands up.

“This is—weird,” Julie admits, “but still not as bad as eating _battery acid hotdogs_.”

“It depends on what kind of sandwich it is,” Reggie argues. “‘Cause that sort of looks like tuna to me.”

“Can we just—stop talking about the sandwich?” Alex begs the rest of them.

“Ooh, someone wants to get back to their date,” Luke comments.

**“So, who’s this—um—Julie?” Willie asks, almost too casually.**

“Don’t worry, Bro,” Luke inserts. “You got nothing to worry about on that account.”

“What are you—” Julie starts. Then seems to catch onto what he’s suggesting. “Oh, yeah, no.”

**“She’s the girl that discovered us,” Alex explains. “Did I mention that she can see us? Do you understand my whole freaking out thing?”**

**“A lifer can _see_ you,” Willie repeats, stunned.**

**“No, Man. It gets crazier. This morning, we’re playing music with her—we become visible to her _entire school_.”**

“Maybe it’s peanut butter and jelly,” Reggie remarks.

“Enough about the sandwich!”

**“Woah, I have _never_ heard about that happening before.” Willie twists his mouth in thought. “Maybe this Julie is connected to your unfinished business.”**

“I—” Julie leans forward. “You didn’t tell me about this part.”

**Alex presses his lips together and nods a few times. “Mmhmm. Yes. Totally. I would completely agree if I had any clue what you’re talking about.”**

**“ _Right,_ ” Willie acknowledges, clearly searching for the right way to put it. “Unfinished business. It’s why people become ghosts when they die,” he explains, talking with his hands. “You know, there’s something they still need to accomplish and, once they complete it—” he clicks his tongue. “They can cross over.”**

**“Okay….” Alex thinks out-loud, tossing his blond hair slightly, “…so how do we figure out what our unfinished business is?”**

Out of the corner of his eye, Alex notices Julie glance down at her hands in her lap, holding them together tightly—and makes a mental note to ask her about that later.

**Willie spreads his arms and shrugs his shoulders at the same time. “I don’t know. You know, some ghosts never do. _I_ still haven’t—but I’m not too worried about it."**

Alex's going to go with the "opposites attract" theory.

 **"Because being a ghost lets me do my favorite thing—skate anywhere I want without getting busted.** **I mean, Bro,” Willie says, before sliding in even closer to Alex. “When I’m not skating here or the beach, I’m skating Justin Bieber’s empty pool.”**

****

God, Willie’s not even looking at _him_ -him—just on-screen him—and that eye contact is making Alex shiver.

And then, the skater has to go and bite his lip.

“Julie—are you sure me and him are…?”

“I mean, you’ve had some ups and downs, but—" Her brown eyes melt as they catch his. "He’d do anything for you. He really, really cares about you, Alex.”

**“Wow,” Alex breathes, sarcasm hidden behind a smile. “Who’s that?”**

**Amusement dances across Willie’s face. “You seriously have _so much_ to catch up on, Bro.” He reaches over to tap Alex on the chest. “Alright… I’ll catch you later, Hotdog.”**

****

Alex groans, “Please don’t tell me that’s a regular thing he calls me.”

“I think food-based nicknames are sweet,” Reggie argues. “Like Pumpkin. Or Honey.”

“Baby cakes,” Luke offers.

“Why thank you, Stud Muffin.”

Alex puts his head in his hands. “Do I need to remind you: that’s—how—we— _died._ ”

**“I _really_ don’t like that nickname!” Alex shouts towards the disappearing skateboarder. “It’s how I died!”**

“Points for consistency.”

**Alex claps his hands together. When it’s clear Willie’s far enough away not to overhear, he leans towards the mascot taking his lunch break. “He’s cute, huh?”**

“Totally,” Reggie agrees.

“Super cute!” Luke echoes.

“I hate to agree with these two, but—he's _definitely_ cute,” Julie teases.

Alex is never going to live this down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay in updates. I was having writer's block.
> 
> Big thanks to Thebookworm33 for helping me with gifs!


	11. Flying Solo

**The studio is awash in sunlight—shining on the plants in the background and reflecting off the smooth black color of the piano where Luke and Reggie are clearly still working on Julie’s poem. Reggie’s rings thud lightly across its wooden surface as he taps out the beat.**

****

Beside him, Reggie sees Alex cross his arms over his chest. Okay, so the drummer is _very_ possessive about his role in the band. Noted.

 **Meanwhile, Luke is speak-singing around the guitar pick in his mouth:  
** **“Guess that means I’m buying lunch that day.  
I know all your secrets; you know all my deep dish.  
Guess that means that some things, they never—”**

**“Wait,” Reggie interrupts, causing Luke to look up at him.**

****

**“So, when she says, ‘deep dish’, is she talking about, like, pizza or—”**

“Not everything is about pizza, Reg,” Luke says from the other end of the couch.

“Hey now. Reggie’s got a point,” Julie speaks up in his defense. “I mean, it was sort of a play on both of the previous lines. ‘Deep dish’ like secrets and the kind of deep conversations I don’t have with other people, but also there was a tie-in to ‘buying lunch that day.’ _Lunch_ like _pizza._ ”

“Boom!” Reggie cheers after giving Julie a fist bump.

**Suddenly, Alex appears, sitting directly between them on the piano.**

****

“You’re right, Julie," the blonde murmurs. "We must be able to sense where people are. Pretty precisely too since I didn't land _on_ either one of them.”

“Well, that’s useful, right?” she supposes, finding Luke’s jacket where it’s been bunched against the couch back for a while now.

“It is and it isn’t,” Alex hedges. “If we can sense each other—or you—just by wanting to, then other ghosts might be able to do it, too, right? That could mean that this—Caleb—could pop up wherever we are."

She stops in her attempt to lay the jacket like a blanket over her legs, obvious fear in her eyes.

“Aybemay eway ouldshay avoidyay ethay Alebcay alktay,” Reggie tells the drummer.

Julie's eyes meet his. “I _know_ Pig Latin, Reg.”

“Oopsyay.”

“It’s fine. The more we know about him, the better. Probably,” Julie says, like she’s trying to convince herself.

**“Oh, hey, Man,” Reggie greets Alex, who definitely looks a lot more relaxed than when he left. "Where'd you go?"**

**“Kinda everywhere.”**

“Nice to know that your version of everywhere is a sidewalk and a bus stop bench,” Luke mentions.

“Don’t forget. He also found his way into a special place in Willie’s heart,” Reggie tacks on, putting a hand over his own.

“I hate you both _so_ much.”

**“I met a new ghost friend,” Alex adds, his smile bright and a little dreamy.**

**Reggie’s eyes grow wide. “For real?”**

**“He answered a _ton_ of questions,” he informs them while Reggie's face is still caught in an 'O' of surprise.**

**“Yeah? Like whether Julie’s gonna join the band or not?” Luke asks, voice dropped low with frustration, as he snatches back the notebook that Alex had been sitting on.**

Alex raises his eyebrows at the screen. “Wow. I didn’t think it was possible, but you might have reached a new level of single-mindedness.”

“It’s called being driven.”

“Or obsessive.”

“Focused. Purposeful. _Passionate_ ,” Luke lists back, spreading his arms wide as if inviting the drummer to say anything more. “Bro, I write lyrics constantly _and_ I went to way more of those book clubs than you did. I can come up with synonyms _all day_.”

Julie looks over at Reggie with her eyebrows raised. “You’ve spent years with these two and somehow think _girl_ fights are weird?” She shakes her head.

**“We didn’t—” Alex scans Luke up and down in concern. “We didn’t really get to that…” before turning around to the more-obviously excited Reggie instead. “But—I think I know why we’re here. Okay, all ghosts have, like, unfinished business. So, we need to do _our_ unfinished business so that we can cross over.” **

“You… _wanted_ to cross over?” Julie turns to Alex with barely disguised hurt on her face that Reggie feels in his gut.

“I—I—,” the drummer sputters, like a car that isn’t sure if it wants to start.

A hand on her shoulder draws Julie’s attention back to Luke. “Of course not, Jules,” he promises her, rubbing soothing circles against her neck with his thumb. “Alex’s just being Alex, you know? Getting excited over some new information. He doesn’t mean… Why would we go anywhere else when we’ve got music in our lives _and_ you to hang out with?”

“Reg?” she asks, and even though he usually hates being put in the middle as the tie-breaker, this time, he owns it by getting up to give her a hug.

“‘Heaven is a Place on Earth’ is more than just an awesome song, alright? After all that time we spent convincing you to let us stay? No _way_ are we going anywhere.”

The sound Julie lets out is something between a cry and a laugh, making Reggie a combination of happy and sad as he presses his face into her mane of hair, trying to ignore the way the strands tickle his nose.

**“Why would we do that?” Luke questions, holding onto his guitar strap as he stands up more fully.**

“See,” Luke whispers to Julie, which Reggie takes as his cue to return to his seat.

Alex still looks guilty as hell, startling when Reggie bumps his shoulder. _It’s not your fault,_ he tries to tell him without words. It’s pretty clear that part of Julie's reaction has to do with future events they have no way of understanding yet. 

**“I’m just saying—This is like our second chance. All we need to do is get Julie to play with us,” Luke insists, bottom lip stuck out slightly.**

Julie exhales a smile where she’s now resting with her head on Luke’s arm.

**“Yeah,” Reggie agrees. “Not only can that girl sing, but she can write too. Luke and I made a _killer_ melody to one of her lyrics,” he promises, pointing back at the guitarist.**

**“Oh,” Alex murmurs, accepting the notebook as it's handed to him.**

“I swear, if I hear one more ‘Oh’ in this episode,” Luke complains under his breath.

Julie thumps him in the middle of his chest—and just like that, the mood gets a little lighter, like what happens when you put creamer into a mug of coffee.

**“Without your drummer,” Alex nods absently. “Cool.”**

****

**Luke hits him over the back of the shoulder. “Drumming is so 90s,” he tells him. “We’re just gonna—stomp our feet now,” he says, while making two distinct thuds against the concrete floor.**

****

“Okay, _that_ was uncalled for,” Julie tells Luke, not bothering to lift her head off of him.

“Join our band and I won’t be in such a bad mood,” he teases.

“After hearing how you just treated one of your band members? Doesn’t sound too enticing,” she counters.

**Alex narrows his eyes at the guitarist. “Do you know what _else_ is so 90s?”**

“Slap bracelets? Push Pops? _Beanie Babies?_ ” Reggie suggests.

“I have no idea what those are. Yes. And Beanie Babies are still kinda popular,” Julie responds.

**“Being rude.”**

“Oh, people are _definitely_ still rude,” Julie insists. “Rude-r possibly.”

**“Get woke. These are sensitive times,” Alex tells the guitarist with conviction before shoving the notebook back at him.**

Julie just hangs her head. "I'm not saying you guys aren't cool. But, _please,_ don't try to sound cool."

**“I learned that from my new ghost friend,” Alex returns to smiling at Reggie.**

****

**“Woke,” Reggie repeats, like he’s testing the sound. “That’s a cool word. What does it mean?”**

**“No clue,” Alex admits.**

****

“Julie?” Reggie asks hopefully.

“You know what? Carlos bought _Papi_ a ‘Teen Slang for Dummies’ book as a gag gift for Christmas. Maybe I’ll just let you guys borrow that.”

Alex makes a noise of protest from deep in his throat, but Reggie just shrugs. If it’s good enough for Ray, it’s good enough for him.

**/////**

**The scene cuts to outside the Molinas’ house where Flynn rises spy-like from where she’d been hidden behind some bushes.**

**However, Julie’s just arriving back home too. “Flynn!” she calls out when she spots her friend.**

**The other girl startles, clearly caught off guard.**

“Yeah, I think you’re dressed a little bit better for sneaking,” Alex points out, indicating Julie’s camouflage.

“Although I like Flynn’s style,” Reggie exclaims, taking in everything from the pink leopard print to the two different kinds of sneakers she's wearing.

Julie tilts her head back. “And that’s probably why you’re _Flynn’s_ favorite,” Julie tells Reggie, sending a warm spark of pride through him.

 **“What are you doing here?** **I’ve been looking all over for you!”**

****

**“Not everywhere,” she points out sarcastically, lowering the backpack she was carrying to the ground, “‘cause here I am.”**

**“I’ve been texting you all day,” Julie insists, scaling the ramp to meet her. “The least you could have done is texted me back.”**

**“I sent a poop emoji. I think it said everything.”**

Alex wrinkles his nose. “I don’t know what that is, but I hope it’s less unsanitary than it sounds.”

“It’s a picture message that you can send someone. I think, originally, it was supposed to be a cartoon of chocolate ice cream, but, then people... kinda reinterpreted it?”

“Oh, God. Those two things should _never_ be mixed up.”

**“I was just leaving this,” she informs Julie, taking a bundled-up shirt from out of her backpack, the words ‘Double Trouble’ clearly emblazoned on it.**

****

**“I won’t need it anymore.”**

“Okay, wait, wait,” Luke exclaims, making the “Time out” gesture with his hands. “She’s taking this a little too far.”

“I lied to her," Julie points out, biting her lip. "She’s right to be hurt.”

“Yeah, but she’s not even answering your calls. How are you supposed to explain things if she won’t even talk to you?”

Julie picks her head up and crosses her arms in front of her. “She asked me to explain before and I didn’t.”

“Which was a mistake. But Jules, _people_ make mistakes. _Friends_ make mistakes. And, usually, it’s not ‘cause they’re trying to hurt you. She should hear you out before _literally_ throwing Double Trouble away. And I'd tell Flynn that to her face even if that makes me her _least_ favorite.”

“I’m with Luke on this one,” Reggie speaks up. “With my parents—the problem isn’t that they fight a lot. It’s that they don’t _listen_ to each other when they do, and they’re not willing to forgive each other afterwards.”

**“I’m not taking it,” Julie insists, forcing the shirt back on her.**

**“Fine,” Flynn says with slightly flared nostrils. “Then my dad can wash his car with it. Though all this betrayal on it—might scratch its paint.”**

Luke’s mouth firms slightly more at the corners.

“Quit it,” Julie tells him.

“On-screen you doesn’t like where she’s going with this either.”

“Well, yeah. But she’s _my_ best friend, meaning _I’m_ allowed to be frustrated at her.”

Luke rolls his eyes, but his shoulders untense some. “Fair enough.”

**“Look,” Julie starts. “I’m very sorry for not telling you, but—I-I need you to know how important you are to me.” She shakes her head, her halo of curls dancing around her face like a windchime. “There’s no way I would have made it through this year if it wasn’t for you.”**

**“And yet, it was three _strangers_ who got you back into music,” Flynn retorts.**

_Oh, she’s jealous,_ Reggie realizes suddenly. _The two of them are really tight and she doesn’t want to be replaced._

He gets that. When they were figuring out how to incorporate Bobby into the band, there had definitely been an adjustment period—and it hurt a little when Bobby seemed to be all Luke could talk about—even if what he said included a lot of grumbling insults.

But just like Luke was always going to need Reggie and Alex, Julie was always going to need Flynn. And he hoped that once she found out about them, Flynn might become friends with the boys as well.

As if she read his thoughts, Julie murmurs, “I think this was a bit too much like Dirty Candy all over again for her. She was super close with Carrie too—and then, Carrie formed her dance group and spent all her time rehearsing. We just started talking less and less until we became—whatever we are now.”

“You’re too stubborn to let that happen,” Luke tells her.

“I’ll take that as a compliment.”

“Good. It was meant as one.”

**Julie presses her lips together, swallowing back anger or sadness, it's hard to tell.**

****

**“I don’t need someone in my life who lies and keeps things from me,” Flynn summarizes. “Goodbye Julie.”**

**She takes a step past her, only for Julie to grab her by both shoulders. “They’re ghosts!”**

Alex flinches. “I know you have to do this, but up until this moment, I didn’t get exactly how crazy that must sound to…” he pauses for a second, “…lifers.”

“At least she’s got a way to prove we exist. Which she didn't have yesterday," Luke says with a shrug.

**“What?” Flynn’s eyes dart back and forth between Julie's rapidly, trying to look for any signs that her friend is joking.**

**“The boys in my band. They’re not holograms. They’re ghosts.”**

Luke points at the screen. “You said ‘my band’,” he observes with a smirk.

“Oh, you knew I was going to join," Julie grumbles. "Because I've _told you already_."

**“And when we play together, people can see them,” Julie explains.**

**Flynn holds her hands up. “What do you mean ‘ghosts’? Like the kind that rattle chains and go ‘Boo!’”**

“Hey, the only times I’ve said ‘Boo’ are when I’ve been alive, thank you very much,” Reggie insists. Then, he thinks about it. “Well, I suppose I just said it now, but—that doesn’t count.”

“Luke does rattle the chains on his pants, though,” Alex mentions. “It’s a nervous habit he picked up after he stopped biting his nails.”

"I feel like no one needed to know that, Alex."

 **“No,” Julie responds, refusing to back down. “And I’m pretty sure that’s just a hurtful ghost stereotype.”** **She spreads her arms in explanation, “These guys are just... normal dead dudes."**

****

**"Welllll,” Julie reconsiders, holding up a finger. “Reggie’s a little questionable.”**

Julie opens her mouth as if she’s about to apologize, but Reggie only grins at her, “You know me so well.”

Meanwhile, it’s Luke’s eyebrows that are furrowed. “Yeah, why are me and Alex ‘normal’? Normal’s _boring._ We’re _awesome._ ”

She throws her hands up in the air in exasperation, but there’s a laugh hiding under there somewhere. “My apologies. You’re all _super_ weird.”

“But I am too,” she adds after a moment.

“Guess that’s why we work together so well,” Alex jokes—and the warmth of the moment reminds Reggie of the photograph that Ray took of them as glowing orbs.

“Maybe,” Julie agrees, then sighs. “Flynn's pretty awesomely weird too and I wish you guys and her could interact more. I mean, she hangs out during rehearsal sometimes, so she sees you—but it would be nice if she could be part of the banter without me having to translate all the time.”

“Maybe you could get a Ouija board,” Alex suggests.

“No! No way,” Reggie informs him. “That never turns out well in any movie ever.”

“Yeah," Alex says flatly, as if Reggie's missing something. "Because it invites _ghosts._ But _we’re_ the ghosts, so it should be fine.”

“Or—hear me out—we get you guys a chalkboard,” Julie suggests.

Reggie has to nix that too. “Luke’s allergic.”

“To what? Chalk?” Julie questions, blinking.

“To the sound chalkboards make when you write on them,” Luke explains with a shudder. “I’m allergic to irritating sounds.”

Julie buries her face in her hands, “You’re right. None of you are normal at all.”

**Flynn grabs her phone out of her pocket and begins rapidly punching keys.**

**“Who are you texting?” Julie demands.**

**“Your dad,” Flynn tells her unapologetically. “He told me to text him if I was worried about you. And, um,” she flails one ring-covered hand. “I’m worried. You’re saying things, Jules.”**

“Not cool, Dude. If you told Julie you were seeing ghosts, she’d totally believe you,” Luke argues to the TV.

Julie makes a contradictory noise. “I’d _probably_ still want some proof,” she admits.

“Well… never mind then.”

**Julie snatches the phone from her fingers. “Alright, so you wanna be difficult.” She uses Flynn’s cellphone to poke at her shoulder. “Meet me in my mom’s studio in _30 minutes._ And I’ll prove to you that I’m not crazy." She starts to leave, but then doubles back. "And _please_ don’t text my dad.”**

**Flynn considers her a moment, then lets out a breath. “Fine. You have thirty minutes.”**

“There we go,” Luke cheers.

**Julie’s shoulders slump, relieved. However, then her eyes catch sight of where Flynn’s sequined backpack is flashing under the light of the sun—and what it contains. “Eggs?” she questions. “Why did you bring eggs?”**

****

**“Oh, um,” Flynn spazzes, shoving the carton more fully inside and picking the bookbag up. “No, I grabbed those by mistake. I was—it’s not like I was gonna through them at your bedroom window or anything—”**

“Wow, she’s an even worse liar than you are,” Luke marvels, like Flynn is some strange new creature that he’s never seen before.

“Eggs do seem like a bit of an extreme step though,” Alex inserts.

Julie scoffs. “Like you haven’t helped these two literally haunt people you’re mad at. _Including_ invisibly mooning them.”

“Uh…” Alex drags the word out. “I haven’t actually.”

“Well, you will.”

“So what Julie’s saying is she’s seen Luke with his pants down,” Reggie whispers to the drummer, apparently not quietly enough.

Alex appears to choke on his own spit, and Luke doesn’t seem much better.

“I—no—Can we just—forget I said anything?” Julie asks, flushing.

**Julie obviously doesn’t believe her at all, but she’s not about to push it right now. Instead, she shakes her head, marching back towards the garage.**

**/////**

**The screen shows the sky over the city turning dusky gold—until, suddenly, Flynn’s knocking on the studio entrance. Julie opens both of the double doors at the same time. “Thanks for coming,” she tells her friend. “We just wanted to rehearse the song so that it was perfect. Which it's not, but whatever," Julie admits, with her hands on her hips.**

Luke does a slightly better job of reigning in his excitement this time, but Reggie can still feel a slight vibration from the other end of the couch, sort of like that time his parents took him to Disney World and they did the creepy crawly effects for The Bug’s Life show.

**Flynn’s arms were crossed, but she uncrosses them now. “No, if I’m going to hear a song from your imaginary ‘ghost band’,” she says with air quotes. “I’d want it to be perfect, so—get back in there,” she tells her with a shooing motion. “All of you,” she adds, pointing to both sides even though there's no one there. “You too,” she zeroes in a spot at random.**

Luke gives a snort of approval at that.

**“They’re not out here,” Julie insists, jerking her thumb in the direction of the garage.**

**“Oh, I know,” Flynn promises, touching Julie placatingly on the shoulder.**

**Julie bites her bottom lip around a smile as she closes the doors behind Flynn’s back.**

**“Alright, guys, you ready?” Julie asks the apparently empty room.**

“This must be from Flynn’s perspective,” Alex observes, “but it’s weird that _we_ can’t see us right now.”

“It’s cool though. Getting to see what the audience sees,” Luke points out. “It can help us improve our performance skills.”

Reggie knows he’s a pretty positive person, but he can’t help but think that some of that comes from being around Luke all the time—his energy serving like a battery to recharge him anytime he risks getting low.

**Flynn, meanwhile, is sort of just hanging out in the middle of the room.**

**“Uh, actually, can you go over there?” Julie asks her, indicating a spot closer to the couch. “Reggie needs some space to rock out—”**

“Yeah, I do!”

**“—and he feels kinda weird walking through you.”**

“Always a gentleman, Reg.”

**Flynn’s laugh is instantaneous. “Boy, when you create a world, you _really_ live in it,” she says, still chuckling—but when Julie pulls out a chair for her, she obligingly sits.**

**“If you’ll notice, there’s no equipment that could produce a hologram. Feel free to look around.”**

**Flynn only flips her hair out and crosses her legs in waiting.**

**Julie stands behind her keyboard, taking a deep breath. “The guys took a poem that I wrote about you and put it to music.”**

“Why don’t you write any songs about me, Luke?” Reggie asks. “At least Alex’s got _Crooked Teeth_.”

“That song was about you,” Alex argues.

“What?!” Reggie feels the shock of that the same way a still lake feels when a stone gets thrown in it.

“I don't get it either way," Julie butts in. "Neither of you guys _has_ crooked teeth,” and at least Luke has the grace to look sheepish.

“I used to have braces,” Reggie grumbles, silently vowing not to play that song anymore.

**“Aww,” Flynn says, somewhat sincerely. “I wish I didn’t have to talk to your dad after this.”**

**But Julie chooses to ignore her skepticism. “It’s called ‘Flying Solo’. Hope you like it.”**

It’s not just Luke this time. All three members of Sunset Curve can’t help but sit up a little in anticipation. After all, as cool as _Bright_ was, it was a song they already knew. This was the first group performance of something they’d never heard before. The excitement was like—the moments before the rollercoaster starts moving.

**Julie moves over to her synthesizer, the rectangular keys lighting up different colors under her fingertips as she builds a pulsing beat.**

“You guys didn’t _really_ exclude a drum part, did you?” Alex asks, concerned.

“Of course not, Alex,” Julie promises, definitely the most relaxed one out of the bunch.

**After a few seconds, she sets the machine to repeat the sequence and moves back over to the keyword.**

**“If I leave you on a bad note,  
leave you on a sad note,  
Guess that means I’m buying lunch that day.  
I know all your secrets,  
you know all my deep dish.  
Guess that means some things, they never—  
They never cha-ay-ay-ange.”**

****

“Dude, that flip in your voice—is such an awesome choice,” Luke’s eyes are practically stars—or hearts.

“I mean, the tune you can up with really leant itself to that. I wouldn’t have thought of it just on my own.”

“But you did it so smoothly, it’s—” he doesn’t finish the sentence, just lets out a groan of satisfaction.

Reggie both wants to keep listening to the song and plug his ears and sing ‘la, la, la’ at the same time.

Alex’s voice sounds right beside him. “They’re getting worse. And we’re going to be _living_ with both of them.”

“At least you’ve got Willie. I’m the fifth wheel on this tricycle.”

**“We both know what I—what I—  
mea-ay-ay—an.  
When I look at you,  
it’s like I’m looking at me.”**

****

Luke looks like he wants to say something else, **but then the rest of the band poofs in, an effect that seems even more dramatic in the smaller confines of the studio and causes Flynn to give a little shriek.**

****

**“My life, my life  
Would be real low, zero,  
Flying so-ol-lo  
My life, my life  
Would be real low, zero  
Flying solo without you-ou-ou.”**

Reggie’s bopping along now. It’s really catchy, okay? And it’s not like he can’t see Alex’s foot tapping.

**“Hey!” they all shout together.**

**“Yea-ee-e-ah.”**

**“Hey!”**

**“Yea-ee-e-ah!” they repeat, and by this time, Luke has left the cluster they’ve formed on the left side of the studio to circle Flynn like a satellite, an angle that would be impossible if he was a hologram. Julie’s also up and out of her seat, singing directly to her friend, who still looks completely thrown.**

**“My life, my life,  
Would be real low, zero—”  
Julie picks up the chorus again, while Luke and Reggie add echoing “Wooahs,” in the background.  
“Flying solo without you—” Julie says, crouching down to Flynn’s eye level. A Flynn who's clearly having a hard time believing what she's seeing.**

****

**There’s a moment of quiet, during which Julie picks up Flynn’s hand.**

**“Yeah, you know who I’m likin’  
Way before I like them**

****

**"Duh," she sings as an aside.  
"‘Cause you like them first.”**

“That sounds like that would be complicated—” Reggie points out.

“I meant more that she likes them _for_ me, not that we crush on the same guys. That’s never been an issue,” Julie explains with a hint of a blush.

“But she doesn’t like your thing for Nick…?” Luke prompts.

“My old thing for Nick _,_ ” Julie corrects, and Reggie doesn’t think she misses the way the corner of Luke's mouth curves at that. “But in that case, it was never that she had a problem with him as a person.” Luke’s mouth turns towards a frown again. “She was just worried about the Carrie of it all.”

She shakes her head, “Enough being nosy about my love life. We’re missing the song.”

Everyone, at least, seems to agree that it's better to move on.

 **“And if somebody hurts you,  
I’m going to get hurt, too,  
** **That’s just how we work, yeah,  
That’s just how we work—”  
  
**

It’s interesting that of all the lines Luke could have quoted to Julie when he was giving her a sample of the song, that he chose that particular verse—rather than starting from the beginning.

**“It will never ch-ay-ay-aynge” she sings, the other three of them coming in to harmonize on the last word.**

**“We both know what I—  
what I—me-ay-ay-an.  
When I look at you,  
it’s like I’m looking at me,” Julie’s voice almost squeaks, the sound is so clean.**

**Tugging on her arm, Julie prompts Flynn to rise to her feet.**

**They all join in for the chorus.  
“My life, my life,  
would be real low, zero,  
Flying so-ol-lo”**

And it really is amazing. Two people can have really good voices and still not blend well together. It gets even trickier when it's four people. Like mixing different colors of Playdoh together. You're pretty much guaranteed to get mushy brown. But the four of them—they manage to keep all their unique colors, even when overlapping and swirling through each other. Reggie's never going to get over how cool that is.

**“My life, my life  
Would be real low, zero,”  
Julie tugs Flynn in Luke’s direction—slightly against her will. He’s now positioned at another mike stand near the couch, close enough for both girls to touch. Julie’s getting into the groove now—moving to the music—while Luke watches Flynn with amusement.**

**  
“Flying solo without you-ou-ou.”**

**“Hey!”**

**This time, Luke gives a little barking lunge along with the word.**

“Heh,” Luke lets out a chuckle, when he sees **Flynn’s scared reaction—and by extension, Julie’s slight concern.**

“You’re so proud of yourself—and I have no idea why,” Julie mutters.

“Hey, I’ve said time and time again that music is about getting people to feel something. In this case, we’re going for shock value.”

“ _I_ was going for heartwarming,” Julie retorts.

“To each their own.”

**“Ye-ea-eah.”**

**“Hey!”**

**“Ye-eah-eah.” Julie leads Flynn over to Alex on the drums and finally, the other girl is starting to look more comfortable, swaying in time with Julie and the beat.**

****

**“My life, my life  
Would be real low, zero,  
Flying solo without you-ou-ou.”**

**Last, they stand on either side of Reggie, who's taking a break from the bass as the song lulls.** **Flynn reaches out to touch him—only for her arm to go straight through his bicep.**

****

**“Weird, right?” the bassist chuckles.**

“Considering she had the chance to touch either of you, and she picked me, maybe I _am_ her favorite,” Reggie says, smugly.

“Just because there might— _might_ —be some kind of mutual understanding that occurs when you go through people _doesn’t_ mean you can call dibs, Reginald,” Alex informs him.

“But if it did, it means I got dibs on Ray too.”

“You realize that would mean that I had dibs on Julie, right?” Luke points out.

Both Alex and Reggie reach over to grab her arm and shoulder respectively. “Nope. She’s a shared Julie.”

“I don’t know whether to find this cute—or be annoyed you're treating me like property,” Julie mentions. All three of them smile sweetly at her until she rolls her eyes.

**Flynn’s jaw is dropped. “They’re ghosts!” she exclaims.**

**“We prefer ‘musician spirits’,” Alex inserts without missing a beat.**

**Reggie nods in his direction, pointing a finger in agreement.**

****

**“Julie?” Luke pipes up from the background.**

“Hmm, I wonder what he could possibly be asking now,” Alex says, sarcastically.

**“Does this mean that you’re joining our band?” His voice is so hopeful, even as he lowly strums his guitar to keep himself visible for Flynn’s sake.**

**As it turns out, Flynn is the one who ends up answering him, “Uh, actually,” she declares, tossing her long hair back. “I think _you’re_ joining _her_ band.”**

**Luke’s face looks stunned for a minute, but then it shifts into a smile.**

****

“Probably best that people don’t connect us to the old Sunset Curve anyway,” he concedes.

**Julie uses Flynn’s shoulder as a platform to support her elbow. “I think I’m gonna go with what she said,” she says with surprising confidence.**

****

**In the background, Reggie looks impressed.**

“So, what does the new band name end up being?” Luke asks. “And please, don’t tell us we’ll find out later.”

“It’s ‘Julie and the Phantoms’. Although, it took us a few different iterations to get there.”

**Luke’s grin never falters.**

“Okay, come on, you’ve all heard the chorus enough times to pick it up,” Julie encourages as **the music gets loud again.**

**“My life, my life  
Would be real low, zero  
“Flying so-ol-o.” **

**Julie and Flynn are bouncing up and down now.**

All four of them join in, adding to the cacophony of sounds.

**  
**

**“My life, my life  
Would be real low, zero” Julie repeats, snaking her body in sync with Flynn’s.**

****

In the void, Julie stands up, demonstrating the same move to Alex, who joins in easily.

**“Flying solo without y-ou-ooh!”**

**“Hey!”**

**“Ye-ea-eah!”**

**“Hey!”**

**“Ye-ea-eah!”**

**“My life, my life  
Would be real low, zero,  
Flying solo without y-ou-ooh!”**

****

“Just to cut in before Luke can say anything, that high note is shiver-worthy,” Alex tells her.

“Thanks,” Julie smiles sunshine at the drummer.

**“Y-ou-ooo-oh-oh-ooh-oh,” she finishes directly at Flynn, touching their foreheads together.**

Yeah, Reggie felt that.

**“Still want to talk to my dad?” she asks her friend, as the last notes trail off.**

**Flynn pretends to think about it for a minute. “Nah, I’m good.”**

**On screen, Luke sticks his tongue against his top row of teeth, while Alex looks at both girls with fondness.**

****

**Julie, looking like a weight has been lifted from her shoulders, pulls Flynn into a hug.**

**Author's Note:**

> If you guys have any gifs for upcoming scenes, please put them in the comments. Thanks!


End file.
